Love in the 2000s
by ObviouslyElementary
Summary: The Dumbledore family has a fame like no other family in the little village of Godric's Hollow, and after two horrible accidents, the three siblings are left to care for their lives on their own. Albus is a part time retail worker, part teacher at the local kindergarden. Aberforth is finishing his high school years and Ariana is homeschooled but she is ready to take in the world.
1. Introduction

The Dumbledore Family, for the longest time, had a fame that little to no families in the little village of Godric's Hollow had ever dreamt to have. It also didn't mean it was good fame, or that anyone even came close of dreaming to have it.

With barely any money on their name, they lived in a little rented house by the end of the village, away from everyone else. Mostly they were called strange, and children were advised to stay away from the Dumbledore residence. Kendra and Percival, however, were great people, and before they had their children, the few families that dared to come any close actually found them extremely pleasing and even became close friends. Three of those few families were the Flamels, the Doges, and the Bagshots, and they all had great fun together.

Then, Kendra and Percival's children were born, and their lives changed very slightly. Since they were so poor, they had to hold on as much as they could to pay for their children's studies and necessities. Their first little boy was Albus, a gentle child. He never gave them any work, even as a baby. He took longer to speak than the others, but he was very smart, always finding a way or another to reach the cookie jar from the highest shelf.

The second to be born was Aberforth. He was a little devil child, but one Percival and Kendra loved beyond everything. He was loud, he cried a lot, but he also laughed more than Albus, and he was always happy and content, no matter what. He loved running around, and he and Albus became close friends quickly, with only three years of difference between them.

The third and last baby they had was Ariana. Their little princess. One year younger than Abe, she was a mix of Albus and Aberforth. She cried a lot but was one to stay more silent in social gatherings. She also seemed to get overwhelmed very easily, but she was kind and sweet to those that were patient, and she loved arts, causing way too many painted walls for Kendra to care.

And just like that, with three children and a loving couple, the Dumbledore grew together, doing all they could, suffering during winter sometimes, but always making it through. And it was a blessing that neither Kendra nor Percival ever wanted to change.

They had their little house, their little business, and they couldn't be happier.

Until the dreadful accident.

No one knew exactly what happened. Specially because Ariana never said anything about it afterwards. But it costed heavy in the family. Ariana had to go to constant therapy, take pills, and be kept away from the outside world. After one year without no justice, Percival went out to do it with his own hands. A huge mistake, he found out later, when he was arrested for the rest of his life, leaving Kendra and their three children alone without him.

At the time he was arrested, Ariana was seven. Aberforth was eight and Albus was eleven. It took a while for the family to recover, specially Ariana, who deeply blamed herself for her father's prison, despite of him assuring it had been his own choice. Kendra also fell into a horrible sickness that seemed to last forever, and both Albus and Aberforth had to begin working whenever they weren't in school to help their mother.

In the early 2000s, their way of life was destroyed, and Kendra and Ariana became recluse, while Albus and Aberforth were known as the sons of the crazy village man.

The Dumbledore family had a horrible fame in the town, but they had nowhere else to go. Their family lived across seas and they had said they never wanted to hear from Kendra or Percival again. The Flamels and Doges had left the village, and the only one left from the Bagshot family was the old historian, an elderly lady that was very kind but couldn't truly help them with anything other than watching over Ariana and Kendra whenever she could.

And during all their teenage years, Albus and Aberforth had to live with the fact that their lives would never be normal again.

The years passed, and eventually, it came the age for Albus to choose what university he would apply to. The problem was that all schools he wanted to attend were out of Godric's surroundings, and he couldn't leave. So he applied for a little neighbourhood university, while Aberforth ended his high school years and Ariana finished her home-lessons.

But in that same year, a few days prior to the results to arrive, Kendra fell deeply sick, and did not resist.

She died a week before Albus was supposed to enter university, and his duties called.

He gave up on the university despite Aberforth and Ariana's pleads for him to keep going, and decided to work two jobs to be able to handle everything while they finished their school years.

Their lives had been hard until that point, but Albus was determined of making Ariana and Aberforth's lives better than they could imagine. Even if it meant working himself to exhaustion every day.

He would give them a dignifying life.

And slowly, the Dumbledore reputation went from crazy family to tragic family and then to dedicated family.

And now 20 years old, Albus was going to make it all work.

Aberforth would go to university to become the successful business man he always wanted to be.

Ariana would be treated in a special institute and finally be able to get out of their house and live her life as she wanted.

And he… he would make his family happy again.


	2. A normal morning

The alarm played in the back of their heads, and slowly, they were pulled away from their blissful dreams and dragged into the real world. Their eyes opened to their dark rooms and they yawned, sitting up and stretching their arms.

They did it all synchronized, and left their beds in a mirrored image: Albus to the left and Aberforth to the right.

The house smelled like French toast, fried egg and coffee as they began to do their routine. Albus went for a bath as Aberforth went for the sink to brush his teeth. Then, they exchanged, with Aberforth getting inside the shower as Albus brushed his teeth and hair.

They began changing at the same moment, and got out of their rooms at the exact time, looking at each other and smiling.

"Good morning brother"

"Morning Alb"

Stretching once more, they turned the lights off and closed the doors behind themselves, heading to the stairs and following the pleasuring smell of fresh food and coffee.

As they reached the end of the stairs, they walked to the kitchen, where Ariana was basically dancing around the oven and fridge. The table was set and she was finishing the pancakes, putting them all on a plate and gathering the jam and the honey and maple syrup.

Just as they sat down, she placed the rest of the food over the table and sat as well, smiling at her older brothers.

"Good morning boys"

"Morning Ari" they answered together, leaning in and giving her a kiss on each cheek. She grinned happily and began to serve them while they looked around, distracted. Aberforth pulled his school bag closer and checked for all books while Albus checked to see if there was any messages on his phone, sighing in relief when he saw he hadn't slept in any message. Then, they looked up and began eating with their little sister, all of them mostly quiet.

As Ariana sipped on her coffee, she looked at her brothers, smiling.

"So. What are the plans for today?"

"School. Then work. Then home to watch some cool movies with my little sister" Aberforth said, winking at her as he stuffed a new piece of egg inside his mouth. She giggled, while Albus stared at him disgusted.

"Please don't eat like a troglodyte" he asked, politely, and cut his egg in small pieces before smiling to Ariana. "Today is a late day again, Ari. Sorry. Beginning of the year is a mess at the school."

"I was expecting it Albus, don't worry" she nodded. "I will clean the house and check on the garden, make sure all our little plants are growing and ready for eating" she winked and then stayed a little quiet before humming. "Also I thought... about going to the little sale in the town"

Both Albus and Aberforth stopped eating and looked at her, thinking about what she said.

"No way" Aberforth said right away, but Albus lifted his hand and looked at her, smiling and taking her hand.

"Ariana... do you think you can do it?" he asked softly, against Aberforth's wishes, and Ariana nodded, smiling and squeezing Albus' hand.

"Yes. I am sure I can do it. I've been wondering around the streets for the last months... I think I can handle a little sale. Just to buy the essentials like meat and some spices we don't have here at home. Please?"

"I don't like this idea" Aberforth said, crossing his arms, and Albus frowned at him.

"Don't act like this. Ariana is already 16, she had all the rights to do as she wants" he said and turned to his sister, smiling. "Listen, you can go, but if you even think about feeling sick, I want you to come back home okay? The day will be busy today and I won't be able to come right away if you call"

"Don't worry! I will behave and I will come back home at the first sign of something wrong" she nodded and Albus kissed her fingers before letting them go.

"I still don't like this idea Ariana. You can wait until I come back and I can come with you" Aberforth said, firmly, and Albus raised an eyebrow as she sighed.

"Abe, I will be fine. I promise"

"Well, I have to go" Albus said, standing up and kissing both Ariana and Aberforth's heads. "You two behave, call me if you need anything, and make sure you don't force yourselves to anything. I will probably be back around eight"

"Good luck brother"

"See you later Alb!"

Smiling, he shook his head and grabbed his bag, walking out of the house and heading towards the town. The path was short, and so it was to the little supermarket he worked as a cashier. Still, he liked to get there early so he could gather everything and make sure he was beginning his shift with the best humor possible.

After all, working in retail was a pain in the butt and everyone knew that. So he tried to do his best and become manager as quickly as possible, despite of nothing having happened in the last 2 years he had worked there.

While he walked away, Aberforth finished his breakfast and organized his middle day snack before kissing his sister goodbye and putting his backpack on his back.

"Call me if you need anything Ari" he said before leaving, holding the handles of the bag tight and sighing as he took the opposite direction that Albus took, heading to school. He was going to his last high school year, and if that wasn't enough to leave hi extremely nervous, the fact that he was a few months away from choosing what he actually wanted to do for his life surely freaked him out enough.

Applications. Colleges. Universities. All a scary world that Aberforth wasn't ready for, but that he also couldn't ignore. Not with all Albus was doing for them. So he had to suck it up and get better at school, so he could get somewhere worth it.

And make his family proud.

After the two boys left, Ariana was alone once again. She cleaned the dishes and put away the food she had cooked before she walked to the living room and turned on the TV, curling up on the couch.

She didn't really mind what was on TV, she had already watched so many things, having such a boring schedule. Her home classes would only begin in the next week, and still, they only lasted 5 hours total, so it didn't really make up much or her time.

Sighing, she turned to face the ceiling, looking up at it and wishing something different would happen. Just as she wished so, the doorbell rang, and she frowned, standing up slowly and walking to the door, always afraid someone was coming to hurt her.

However as she looked through the door's eye hole, she relaxed, smiling as she opened the door.

"Miss Bagshot!" she said, happily, looking at the old woman as the door was opened. She was smiling at Ariana.

"Oh little sweetheart" she cooed, caressing Ariana's face and making her giggle.

"Please come in!"

"Oh no darling, no I came here to ask you a favor" she said, and Ariana looked at her curious. "Are you alone?"

"Actually yes. What favor you want to ask of me?"

"Well you see, little lady, you know every now and then I have these... reunions with my friends that I can't reschedule but my house is so messy" she giggled, and Ariana tilted her head, confused. "So I came here to ask you to clean it for me today. I will pay you of course!"

"Oh! I sure can miss Bagshot!" she said happily, always loving any excuse to get out of her house. "I can go there right away! Just let me change my clothes!"

"Oh wonderful lovely!" she responded, looking for something in her little purse. "Hm... there it is..." she took out a bunch of keys and gave them to Ariana. "Here it is sweetheart. You can go over whenever you can. I need to go now but I will be back before your brothers return home"

"No problem miss Bagshot, they don't mind when I'm at your house" Ariana answered, taking the keys and grinning. "I will go clean your house better than you've ever seen!"

"I'm sure you will" the old woman said, laughing, and tapped Ariana's shoulder. "I... I needed to tell you something else, but I've forgotten. Well, probably wasn't important" she shrugged, waving at Ariana. "Goodbye sweetheart!"

"Bye miss Bagshot!" Ariana said, smiling widely and holding the keys tight on her hands.

It wasn't the town's sale, but it was something at least. And Aberforth wouldn't mind as much.

And just like that, she changed and got out of their house, ready to work hard and get some change for her and her brothers.

Perhaps she could hold onto it to buy that beautiful dress she had seen in the next town.

She would figure it out once they were all together that night.


	3. Getting to work

Albus reached the market ten minutes prior to the time he should be there. As usual, the place was completely empty. Taking the keys out of his pocket, he opened the staff door and walked in, heading towards the lockers and dressing himself up. Holdings his glasses with his mouth, he tied up his long hair in a tight bun that would only begin to get loose around noon, and put his glasses back on, before tying down the apron with the supermarket's logo right on his chest. Checking himself in the mirror, he fixed his collar, made sure his eyebrow was nicely settled, that everything he was wearing was clean, and only then he walked out, locking his bag inside his locker.

Then, he headed inside the market, looking around and sighing at the emptiness. No one ever showed up to help him, and then, when their boss asked, he had no heart of telling him that he had done everything alone. Well, it was his own fault. Slowly, he walked towards the main power cell, turning on all the lights before giving a quick check on all isles. Luckily, it wasn't a real supermarket, considering how small it was.

He fixed some snacks that were falling, he checked the date to all frozen products, cleaned up the cashiers, and then he opened up the store, smiling out to the empty streets.

Everyone was still sleeping, but soon the little market would be bursting around with life and nice, sweet ladies that always gave him a little more 'to help your little brothers, sweetheart. Buy them some nice chocolate!'.

It seemed as if they thought Albus was more of a single father than an older brother, but still, he liked the sentiment.

A few minutes later, one of his co-workers showed up. He took his place at the first cashier without even giving Albus a good morning greet, looking more tired than an old man after a marathon. Surely he had spent the night awake partying.

What a lucky life.

Not long later, his other co-worker showed up. She was nicer, smiling to him and wishing a good morning, but soon she disappeared into the isles, and Albus was sure he wouldn't see her again until their boss showed up.

The last to arrive was the manager, who always showed up late. He was a slacker, he hated everyone and everyone hated him, but Albus still tried to be kind, asking how his night had been.

He was met with narrowed eyes and a scowl that almost made him curl up and roll away in embarrassment.

That was what he got by trying to be nice.

Around an hour after he opened the market, the shoppers began coming inside. Most of them were old women wanting to buy ingredients for lunch, while some others were university kids that hadn't prepared for the week and had a free period in the morning. Rarely someone around 30 or 40 appeared in the market by morning.

But none of it really mattered. All that mattered was that Albus was at it again, another day, another six hours of retail work, and then he would eat lunch and leave to the kindergarten.

Truly the life he had been planning since he was a child.

Shaking his head, he sighed and sat down in the cashier chair. It wasn't time to be sarcastic. He had work to do.

He only hoped Abe and Ari were having more fun than he was.

"Late again, mister Dumbledore?"

Aberforth stopped in the middle of the hallway, cursing under his breath before he put on a smile and turned around, holding his bag and pointing to the school's caretaker, a grumpy man that made sure to show his hatred for all and every student that stepped in the school's grounds.

Specially the Dumbledores.

"Heyyyyy Filch, my man" Abe said, grinning widely and walking towards the man. "Oh I've missed you sir, I surely have! You're looking great! Did you do something to your hair? It's looking incredible"

"Quit it Aberforth" he said, angrily, and raised a finger towards him. "If you think this little show will make you escape a warning for getting to school late, you are very, very mistaken!"

"Filch, listen" Aberforth said, putting his hand over the man's shoulder and grinning. "It's the first day after the winter break. Please, I just want to get to class… you know how things are at home"

"Your little theatre may fool the headmistress, but it does not fool me, mister" Filch growled, pointing his skinny, dirty finger towards Aberforth. "If you think you can use your name and your situation to get out of trouble, you are deadly wrong!"

"Aberforth Dumbledore?"

The feminine voice attracted the attention of both Filch and Aberforth, making them both turn around to see the headmistress with her arms crossed over her chest. Aberforth immediately let go from Filch's shoulder, swallowing thickly.

"Yes, miss?"

"To my office. This instant"

He could feel Filch's smirk behind him but did not turn to look, or else he would get into even more trouble. Holding his bag with both hands, he walked behind her, closing his eyes and praying that she wouldn't do anything too bad.

Aberforth followed her to her office and waited for her to close the door before sitting on the chair in front of her desk. She sat down as well, after him, and places her elbows over her desk, while he put his bag on the ground and looked up at her.

They stayed silent for a long moment, before she sighed.

"Late again, mister Dumbledore"

"It's the first day after winter vacation!" he complained, furrowing his eyebrows. "The road was filled with snow and you know I come here walking! I couldn't possibly come any faster!"

"Aberforth, this is your tenth time this school year getting here late" she said, coldly, and he looked down, the guilt heavy on his shoulders. "It makes me wonder if you are even interested in attending. Teachers say that more and more they catch you asleep during their classes. You don't do their essays. You disrespect their methods. What is happening Aberforth?"

"Your school doesn't challenge me. I get perfects in almost all subjects, and the ones I don't, I get beyond expectations. I'm never below average, no matter how many lessons I sleep through or how many essays I don't do" he huffed, crossing his arms and looking back up at her. She looked at him and sighed, shaking her head.

"Aberforth…"

"I know what you're going to say" he cut her off, rolling his eyes. "'Oh but your brother had perfect in _all_ subjects, he never slept during any classes, he always made all his essays. He was the perfect student!'. Guess what? I'm not my brother."

"I was not going to compare you to Albus" she said, firmly, and he shut up, looking away from her again. "I know you are not your brother. But you have the potential to be better, Aberforth. I just want to give you an opportunity! You can go so far if you give yourself a chance…"

"My brother gave himself the chance, and where is he now?" he asked, coldly, and she looked taken back by it. "Working in a supermarket and in a kindergarten. Getting slightly above minimum wage every month. He was the most brilliant student in this school, he won several contests around the country and around the _world_ and where is he now?"

"Aberforth, he is doing all he can to make sure you and your sister have the life you deserve" she said, furrowing her eyebrows. "He is letting go of his future to take care of you, give you the opportunities he wished he had!"

"Well no one asked him to!" Aberforth stood up, slamming his hands on her desk. "If he has to sacrifice his future for me and Ariana, I won't be the one to steal his dreams! I don't want to go anywhere! I want to stay here in Godric's Hollow, work somewhere bearable, have a simple life and take care of my sister so he can go and live his dreams okay?!"

The headmistress stared at him for a long time, before she sighed and stood up as well.

"I will give you a warning. I want it signed by him tomorrow, before class" she said, taking out a piece of paper and writing down her signature before handing it to Aberforth. "Two more and you will be suspended for a day. Understood?"

"Whatever" he muttered, pushing it inside his pocket and turning towards the door, getting out of her office and heading towards his first class.

He hated that school.

Working for Bathilda was one of Ariana's favourite things to do.

Not because of the work itself, nor because of the money (despite of her always giving Ariana an extra tip just because she was a 'kind, sweet girl'), but because it was the messiest house Ariana had ever been inside.

It was filled with books all over the place, writings made by Bathilda herself, pictures, diaries, everything a historian would love to keep to herself when she was lonely. And considering that her whole family lived in Hungary and surrounding areas, while she lived alone in England, and she had no husband, it meant it was a safe place for Ariana to stay, with no fear of being surprised by someone she didn't know.

So as soon as she was changed, she rushed towards Bathilda's house, ready to clean it up, make it tidy and organized, and then read some of her new books, learning all about history. Ariana was especially interested in the dark ages, when witches were said to be real and people had a deeper contact with their spiritual natures.

She opened the door to the house and closed it behind her, looking around the small, busy house. Slowly, she walked through the piles and piles of books, trying to reach the laundry where the cleaning products would be. She picked everything up in a big card box and took it all back to the living room, where she would begin her cleaning.

Before she began, she took out her phone and put on some songs to play, to keep her excited. Then, she grabbed the broom and began brushing the floor. She organized the books by colour first, and then decided to organize them by theme. Then, she mopped the floor, making it as clean as possible, before cleaning the furniture, walls, windows, and so on.

She spent an hour only in the living room, and then headed to the kitchen.

She would take a full day to clean that entire house.

Slowly, she made her way from the kitchen to the garden, and then upstairs, cleaning the guest room and Bathilda's bedroom.

When she was reaching the attic, around noon, she heard the door downstairs opening. She smiled, looking down to the stairs, expecting it to be Bathilda coming home earlier than expected.

Luckily, she said nothing, because the voice did not sound like the old woman's soft, kind voice.

 _"Auntie? I'm home!"_

Ariana froze immediately, almost letting the mop fall. Holding it tight over the bucket, she looked down at the stairs, her fight or flight reflexes activating.

That was not Bathilda's voice.

That was a boy's voice.

A boy's voice Ariana did not know.

She began shaking as she remembered the only way out of the house was the front door. Stepping backwards, almost as if she was in front of an abyss, she stepped in a somewhat loose piece of wood, and it made a loud noise, petrifying her on the spot.

The silence was intense for a few seconds, just before she heard the first step on the stairs.

 _"Aunt Bathilda?"_

He was getting closer.

Shacking in fear, she turned around, thanking the gods above that she had turned off her music for this particular room, and decided to hide behind some boxes, leaving the mop and the bucket behind, walking as carefully as she could towards the back of the attic and making herself as small as possible behind the crates.

Then, she quickly grabbed her phone from her pocket and found Albus' number, calling him once, while the steps became louder. Nothing. She tried again, but once more she could not reach him.

Not really thinking about it, she found Aberforth's number and sent him a message, knowing he wouldn't get her call in the middle of his classes. It was a desperate message, probably worst than the situation actually was, but she wasn't thinking right. She just wanted to get out of that house, she just wanted her brothers to come and take her away from whoever this boy was.

Eventually, his steps stopped, and he didn't come to the attic. She could hear him walking down in the second floor, but he never came any close from climbing to the attic.

After looking for a while, the boy seemed to give up, walking downstairs again and making her whimper in relief, hugging her legs and pressing her face to her knees.

She just had to breathe and wait for Aberforth to come get her.


	4. Meeting Grindelwald

"ARIANA!"

The bang on the door was surely unnecessary, but Aberforth wasn't one to be calm in normal situations.

And this was not a normal situation, which made matters even worst.

"Open. This goddamned. Door!" he yelled as he punched the door of Bathilda's house. The last punch almost got into someone's face as whoever was inside opened the door, and only by an inch it didn't hit the boy right on the face.

"Holy shit what is happening here?!" the boy asked, eyes wide, but Aberforth didn't even care. He just walked inside, pushing him away. "Hey wait a minute!"

"Where is my sister?!" Aberforth growled, grabbing the guy by the collar of his chest and almost lifting him up. He only didn't because the guy was a little too tall. "What did you do to her?!"

"What sister?! What are you on about?! Let me go you brute!" the boy yelled right back, pushing Aberforth away and huffing angrily. "I'm alone here! Your sister isn't in my house!"

"Yes she is! She said she was in Bathilda Bagshot's house!" Aberforth replied, walking closer to the boy again. "Where. Is she?"

"Listen you crazy lunatic, I looked around the whole house and found no one okay?! Your sister is not here!" he said, angrily, but Aberforth wasn't buying it. He grabbed his phone and opened the conversation, pushing it on the guy's face.

"There! She told me she's in the attic! And if she isn't there…" he said, trying to sound threatening, but the lad simply read the message and raised his eyebrow.

"Attic? I didn't check it"

"Oh don't worry, I will" Aberforth blocked the phone and began to rush upstairs, being followed by the blond boy.

"Hey hey wait a minute, you can't just walk inside my house with no explanation! I will call the police if you give another step up these stairs!"

Aberforth stopped, a smirk growing on his face, and he turned around, leaning down to be face to face with the lad.

"Do that" he whispered, making him stand his ground, looking slightly uneasy. "Call the police. You will see what I'll do to you when they arrive, pervert"

"I… what?" he frowned, and Aberforth rolled his eyes, rushing upstairs again and looking around for the opening to the attic. When he found it, he pulled the stairs and rushed up, looking around.

"Ariana?" he called, pushing the bucket away and standing up. "Ari? It's me Abe. Come out. You're safe now"

Suddenly, a shadow came out of the darkness and jumped over him, hugging him tight and whimpering as tears soaked his jacket. Sighing in relief, he held her close and sat down for a few minutes, getting her to calm down.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! I'm sorry Abe I am so sorry!" she whimpered against him, but he just shook his head and kissed her forehead.

"Calm down Ari, its fine… Lets go home yeah? We can make some hot chocolate, watch some movies… what do you think?" he asked, smiling and caressing her hair, and she nodded slowly, despite of not moving away from him. He stood up, pulling her with him, and slowly made his way down the attic stairs and then down to the main floor.

She kept her face hidden against him, but as they passed by the living room, the boy stared at him, looking slightly surprised.

"So she was there" he said, and Aberforth showed his teeth like an animal as she curled up further against him. "Okay okay sorry…"

"Lets go Ari" he huffed and took her out of the house, leaving the boy behind and cursing under his breath. Ariana was slowly calming down, but he was still angry. He wanted an explanation, she wasn't supposed to be at Bathilda's today. And who the hell was that kid?! Aberforth had a short temper, that he surely had, so he decided against trying to find an explanation and simply take care of Ariana.

When he got home, he would call Albus and make him come home immediately. His cool-headed brother would know what to do.

"Albus?"

He looked up from the lady's last product, passing it through the machine without staring, looking at his co-worker that approached him with a phone in her hand.

"Yes Cam?"

"Your brother is calling. He said its urgent"

Albus furrowed his eyebrows and sighed, finishing the lady's bill and asking her for the money before nodding to Cam.

"Just a moment" he requested, and helped the old woman with her coins before waving and turning around, lifting his hand. "Give it to me. Can you stay while I go talk to him?"

"sure thing" Cam smiled and took his place, letting him walk to the backroom to talk to Aberforth. As he reached the coffee break room, he put the phone next to his ear and sighed.

"Abe?"

"Albus thank god! Why do you always take so long to answer the phone?! And why isn't your mobile phone with you?!"

"It is with me, its turned off Aberforth" he answered, rubbing the bridge of his nose with two fingers and closing his eyes. "Tell me what's wrong"

"Well what's wrong is that Ariana freaked out because she was alone with a random guy at Bathilda's house!"

Albus opened his eyes and blinked slowly, trying to process the information.

"Wait what?"

"Exactly. Come home right now!"

"Abe…" he sighed and looked away, leaning against the table. "I can't go home! My shift doesn't end until half an hour from now and after that I have to go to the school straight away!"

"Oh alright, so retail and a bunch of stupid kids are more important than your fucking sister?!"

"Aberforth, do not speak to me like this" Albus said, cold and firm, and the line went silent for a moment. "You hear me?"

"… yeah sorry" Abe muttered and sighed. "Please come? She needs you"

"God damn… alright" he sighed and closed his eyes tightly. "I will do what I can okay? Be home soon"

"Thank you. And sorry"

"It's fine Abe. It's fine"

He hang up and put the phone back on its base, sighing loudly and rubbing his face. Right. Now he just had to convince his stupid manager that he could go home and check on his sister.

Weirdly enough, he was able to leave without many problems. Cam even helped him saying she would cover the rest of his shift. He only had to make sure he got to the market earlier every day, which he already did anyway, so it wasn't too bad.

As he walked back home, he turned on his phone and dialled the number to his kindergarten friend, just to tell her he would be late for that day's lesson.

"Uh Minerva? Oh hi mister McGonagall, can I speak to your daughter? Please?" he asked, smiling nervously to himself. After a few seconds, the phone was given to someone else. "Minerva?"

"Albus? Why are you calling me during your shift?"

"Well" he sighed, turning towards a small shortcut "something happened at home... I needed to warn you I will get late today. Is it okay? I'm sorry..."

"Yeah Albus its fine! You know first days are always less busy" she answered, and he could hear the smile on her voice. "Gosh, I missed those crazy beasts"

"I miss them too. Very much" Albus admitted, smiling fondly. "That's why I still want to go today. I want to squish their cute cheeks"

"Albus, you would make a fantastic father"

"A fantastic uncle, you mean" Albus laughed nervously, shaking his head as he crossed the street. "Only having to be nice, never really needing to care of the kid"

"Well yeah, sure" she chuckled and then hummed. "Anyway, take care of whatever is happening home and I will watch over the little angels for you. We can talk more when you arrive"

"We sure will. Thanks Mirv" Albus smiled, and she shrugged it off before they said their goodbyes and hang up on each other.

Well, at least nothing too bad had happened yet.

"Ariana? Are you feeling any better?"

She looked up from her hot chocolate, nodding slowly to the smiling Albus next to her. Aberforth was pacing around the living room, clearly still nervous and needing to spend some energy.

"This is so stupid, we should just call the police and be done with this!" Abe growled, sitting down on the near by chair, and Albus sent him an annoyed stare just as Ariana shook her head.

"N-no! he didn't... he didn't do anything, it was my fault" she said, looking at Albus again and feeling her bottom lip tremble. "Please Albus don't call the police on him, I don't even know him!"

"I won't" he assured, taking one of her hands and smiling calmly, as usual. "Just tell me exactly what happened"

"I... Bathilda came home right after you two left" she started, her voice shaky, but way better than when Aberforth had found her. "She asked me to... clean her house as usual, but she forgot to tell me something. So I went, and I cleaned everything as quickly as usual. But when I reached the attic... I... I heard the door opening"

"And it was the boy?" Albus asked, tilting his head, and she nodded, sniffling and rubbing her eyes with her sleeves. "What did he do?"

"He... he called out for Bathilda. He called her... aunt?" she mumbled, furrowing her eyebrows and sighing. "Then I made a noise and he came upstairs, but he didn't see the attic's entrance, so he walked downstairs again and stayed down until Aberforth appeared"

"So he didn't find you, hurt you, do anything to you?" Albus asked, just to be sure, and Ariana shook her head, sniffling.

"N-no, he didn't... he didn't know I was there..."

"Yes but! When I got there and said my sister was inside he threatened to call the police on me!" Aberforth said, offended and angry, making Albus look at him once again annoyed.

"Oh really? Maybe because you came punching his door down looking for a girl he didn't even know was inside his house?" he asked, sarcastically, and Abe huffed, crossing his arms and looking away. "No wonder why he wanted to call the police on you Aberforth"

"Albus" Ariana said, and he turned to her, holding her hand on his own "I didn't mean to scare anyone, or make anyone mad..."

"I know Ari" he assured, smiling, and pulled her closer for a hug. Then, a brilliant idea popped inside his head and he pulled away, looking down at her. "hey, I had an idea."

"Really?"

"Yes" he nodded and leaned closer to her. "I will go talk to him right now, explain the situation, and then tomorrow, Bathilda will probably invite us to meet him in case he really is her nephew, so you, Abe and I can make a bit pot of cookies to take to them as an apology" he said, and she smiled, even if still shaky. "What do you think?"

"Even if he is Bathilda's nephew, I am not putting my trust on that guy" Aberforth said, coldly, and both Ariana and Albus looked at him. "He looked freaky. And also, why would someone from Bathilda's family just appear out of nowhere? No one from her family ever showed up in Godric's Hollow, why now?"

"That is not our problem. Besides, I think it is a good environment for Ariana to practice dealing with other people" Albus said, looking at her and smiling. "Both you and I will be there, she loves Bathilda's house, and maybe her nephew is a nice lad"

"I... I like that idea" Ariana nodded, smiling a bit brighter, and Aberforth huffed.

"Sure. Lead her straight to his lair"

"Aberforth, shut up"

Ariana looked between the two as they made a silent staring contest that ended up (as usual), with Aberforth rolling his eyes and Albus nodding to himself.

"It is settled" Albus said, standing up and kissing Ariana's head. "I will go clarify the situation, and then go back to work, and you two can stay home today"

"Okay! Have a nice day" Ariana said, smiling, while Aberforth rolled his eyes again. Albus looked at him seriously and hummed.

"And you will wait me awake. I want to talk to you" he said, firmly, and Aberforth looked back at him, a little taken back. He nodded slowly, hesitantly, and Albus hummed, walking towards the door.

Right. He could only hope his conversation with this Bagshot wouldn't take too long.

Albus reached the house slowly, taking his time and breathing calmly to make sure he wouldn't say anything that would make the situation worst. As he approached the door, he lifted his hand and knocked, only three firm knocks. Then, he waited.

 _"Yes?"_ came the answer from inside the house, muffled by the door. Albus hummed and smiled.

"Hey. My name is Albus Dumbledore, I am the older sibling of the two teens that showed up here earlier" he said, holding his hands behind his back. "I wanted to explain what happened, and also apologize in their behalf"

 _"Sure, come in"_

Frowning, he lifted his hand again and twisted the doorknob, finding the door unlocked. He walked inside, and the house seemed empty. It was clean, Ariana made sure of that, but the books were still piled around, and he couldn't see anyone around.

"Hm... hello?" he called, softly, and closed the door behind himself, leaving the living room in the darkness.

Suddenly, a shadow moved on his left around the piles of books, and he gasped, stepping back in fright. The shadow stopped and he stopped, and then someone started laughing.

"Oh I'm sorry" the shadow said, walking towards the slightly more lighten up part of the room was. "I didn't mean to scare you..."

He stepped from the darkness to the weak light coming from the window, and Albus froze on the spot, looking at him.

As stupid as it sounded, Albus felt an immediate shot through his heart, and his body became frozen in time, staring at the heterochromatic eyes in front of him that seemed to be reading his soul and beyond. He felt breathless, his stomach turned painfully, and the world slowed down for a few moments, leaving him to study the person in front of him.

His blue and brown eyes, his almost transparent skin, his white hair thrown to the back, the sides of his head shaved, ears pierced on the shell, a neck that hid under a fluffy red scarf, a body covered by a black long sleeved shirt and a pair of comfy flannel sweatpants, and the most kissable pair of lips Albus had ever seen in his entire 20 years old life.

He was completely paralyzed.

"Um... hello?"

A hand waved in front of his eyes and he blinked, finding himself out of the trance and back in reality. The lad was now way closer, only a few steps putting distance between them, and he was staring at Albus as if he was an alien, extremely confused.

Albus felt his cheeks burning, almost as if he had been hit with a heated frying pan, and he both wanted to die and run away from there immediately.

"Are you okay?" he asked once more, and Albus could feel a whine forming deep into the throat, but he swallowed it down and gave the stranger an awkward smile.

"Hi I'm Albus Dumbledore" he said again, and the lad tilted his head, nodding slowly.

"I... know. You said that" he said, smirking, and Albus' heart seemed to jump out of his chest. "You are the brute and the lady in distress' brother, aren't you?"

"I... yes!" he said, and rubbed his eyes, sighing. "S-sorry, I... I am not usually this awkward..."

"It's fine" he assured, and lifted his hand for a handshake that Albus quickly noticed and accepted. "Lets start again. Hello. My name is Gellert Grindelwald, and I am Bathilda Bagshot's nephew"

"It is a pleasure to meet you Gellert" he said, shaking his hand and relaxing a bit, despite of the touch making his hand burn. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I am the eldest brother of those two teens that showed up here earlier"

"Great" he nodded and let go from Albus' hand, pointing to the couch. "Want to seat while we talk?"

Albus was pretty sure that if he sat down, he would be even more late to his work that day.

However, when he last saw it, he was already sitting down, with the most beautiful person he had ever seen sitting right in front of him.


	5. Interested

"Okay so basically your sister has a problem with staying alone with people she doesn't know?" Gellert asked, seeming interested, and Albus nodded slowly. "Oh. And it is some kind of PTSD? Like a phobia of some sorts, caused by an event in the past?"

"Well yes actually she…" Albus stopped, and furrowed his eyebrows. "I mean yeah but she doesn't like to talk about it, I don't think I should-"

"She doesn't feel that around people she knows, however? Like someone from your family?" Gellert continued, and Albus blinked slowly.

"Why are you manipulating me to talk by avoiding the question and taking an alternative path instead?" he asked, narrowing his eyes, and the lad stopped, lifting his eyes to meet Albus'. They stayed like that for a moment before the smirk grew on Gellert's face again, making Albus' heart quicken.

"You realized it" he said, in wander, and leaned back against the couch. "You really are smart… do you study psychology?"'

"Um, no, you just made it very obvious" Albus shrugged and crossed his legs, pulling them closer to his body without letting his shoes touch the couch.

"You have no idea how many people told me their entire lives just because they didn't realize I was avoiding the subject" he chuckled, making Albus feel his cheeks heating up again.

His laugh was delighting to hear.

"Well I'm not like those people" Albus replied, not meaning to sound arrogant, but as soon as the words got out of his mouth, he noticed how mean they sounded. "Like, I mean…"

"You really aren't like them" Gellert hummed, and once more, Albus got quiet. "So, what do you do in this small village?"

"I work at the super market sometimes" he explained, making the blond boy furrow his eyebrows. "And I should go back to my shift right now. So again, I am sorry for the misunderstanding, but everything is settled now"

He grabbed his bag and stood up, lifting his hand for a handshake. Gellert looked at him from head to toe, making him slightly uncomfortable, before he stood up and fixed his shirt, taking his time to hold Albus' hand.

However, when he did, he did not shake it. He pulled on it and moved closer to Albus, sliding two of his long fingers under Albus' long sleeved shirt without forcing the shirt up. He froze immediately, hand grabbing the lad's wrist, eyes shifting down to stare right into the brown and grey irises.

"Has anyone ever told you that… your eyes look like blue crystals?" he whispered, and Albus felt his throat tightening and his heart racing, giving a step back and being followed by Gellert.

"I'm… sure someone must have uh, mentioned at some point" he mumbled out, trying his hardest to keep his eyes in the eyes, keep the eyes in the eyes, there was nothing to see there, nothing to see.

"What about how soft your hair looks?" Gellert pushed, leaning even closer and making Albus hold back a whimper. Look into the eyes, look into the eyes.

"I-I… I need… To go…" he mumbled, before he gasped as somehow Gellert had guided him to a chair, making him fall down onto it as he leaned over him, one hand still on his arm while the other held onto the back of the chair.

That was when Albus saw Gellert's drifting down, and he followed them slowly, losing his breath as his eyes met with a pair of lips that he desperately wanted to kiss.

Suddenly, there was a noise outside and both of them stopped, Albus shifting his glance towards the window as Gellert, looked back, finally letting go from his arm. Albus used that moment to stand up, almost pushing the blond away and smiling way too wide to look realistic.

"I have to go! Nice meeting you Gellert, take care!" he said, quickly, and grabbed his bag, rushing outside and running off as soon as he closed the door behind himself.

His heart was racing desperately, and he had to stop eventually to regain his breath.

What the fuck had just happened?

Had he just… he… that guy…

He had nothing! Albus shook his head, leaning back against the tree and taking a deep breath, trying to forget about what had just happened. Because nothing had happened! He shook his head again and groaned, rubbing his eyes.

No. Nothing happened. It had to be just a dream. It wasn't possible that a lad like him… Like Gellert Grindelwald… nephew of Bathilda… that handsome, beautiful, gorgeous…

"Ah!" Albus exclaimed in the middle of the street, grabbing his hair and shaking his head. "No no no not this again, for god's sake!"

"Are you okay son?" a soft voice said suddenly, and Albus jumped, looking back and then relaxing when he saw Bathilda standing behind him, frowning.

"Oh miss Bagshot… you scared me" he chuckled and smiled. "I'm fine! I'm fine, I'm totally fine. I am just… going to my job! Also I'm late! See you later miss Bagshot!" he waved, making his way around the old lady and running towards the kindergarten.

He tried to forget about the encounter, he tried to brush away everything that had happened, but he just couldn't.

Something in that guy just… made his heart burst.

Albus was so distracted that he did everything on automatic. He got into the school, walked to the teacher's office, putting his bag inside his locker and leaving towards the children's room and ending up bumping into someone in the middle of the hall.

Out of reflex he grabbed them by the waist and pulled them closer, using his right foot to keep them balanced.

"Sorry!" he squealed out, looking at whom he was holding, while they held onto his shoulders. When their eyes met, he frowned. "Minerva?"

"Albus!" she complained, quickly going back to her feet and pushing him away as he wiped his clothes back to normal. "You get here late and runs into me?! How nice!"

"Mirv I'm so sorry!" Albus begged, taking her hands and kissing them both. "Please forgive me! I was distracted, and on a rush!"

"yes I can see that" she huffed and smiled, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it Alb. You arrived! Now come here, the kids are waiting" Minerva held his hand and pulled him through the hallway, taking him towards the children's room. "Children! Professor Albus arrived!"

"Professor!" they all squealed together, and Albus walked inside after Minerva, smiling as all the five year olds walked to him, hugging his legs.

"Oh my sweethearts how are you doing?" he asked, kneeling down and ruffling up their hair, hugging all of them one by one. "What did I miss today? Did you have a lot of fun with Minerva?"

"Professor McGonagall let us draw all morning!" one of the girls, called Lily, said contently, showing Albus her drawing of a swan on a lake. Or least, that was what it looked like.

"That's wonderful! And now its time for what?"

"NAP!" they screamed, and rushed to their little blankets, making Albus laugh loudly and Minerva smile fondly at the children.

"Nap time!" he nodded and walked to the centre of the room after grabbing a book from the wall. "Everyone ready for the story?"

"YES!"

"Alright" he chuckled and opened the book. "Once upon a time, there was a pretty princess, that lived…"

Slowly, Albus began to tell the story written in the book, and eventually, Minerva sat next to him, helping him with some voices and some paragraphs. As the story continued, the children began to fall asleep, and the two only stopped when the last child slept, leaving them alone for some time.

Albus groaned as he stood up, feeling his legs complaining at the constant position, and he sighed, putting the book away and walking towards the desk where Minerva worked on some type of paper. He pulled a chair close to her and smiled, poking her shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"Work. School work" she looked at him and smiled. "Could you tell me what made you so distracted earlier?"

"I… nothing important" he shook his head, shrugging it off. "Just something that happened at home."

"Sure" Minerva chuckled and looked back at her worksheet. "And how was vacation from school? I know you got no vacations from the market"

"I missed it" Albus sighed, looking at the asleep kids. "I missed them Mirv, I can't handle being away from the children"

"I know, I know. You're so in love with them, I bet you would adopt all of them if you could" she winked, making him chuckle.

"Oh no, I have two children at home to take care of" he said, relaxing on the desk. She looked at him, and smiled fondly.

"And how are they? Aberforth? Ariana?"

"They are good, they are good" Albus nodded and laid his head on the desk. "Aberforth is wild as ever, I bet he didn't even want to go back to school this semester. And Ariana is trying her best to get used to the outside world. She said this is her year. She is really willing to try going around…"

"Albus, that is so good! Not for Abe, of course, but for Ari" she said, and he smiled to her. "You… don't look very happy"

"They are growing up" Albus mumbled and sighed, closing his eyes. "Every day it is harder and harder to convince Aberforth to stay in school. And it is hard to allow Ariana to just try and go live her life. I… it is hard to be a parent"

"You're not a parent Albus, you are their brother" Minerva said, frowning, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Albus nodded, sighing, and then moved away from the desk, yawning and stretching before relaxing again and smiling at her.

"yeah yeah, don't worry, I am just venting" he said, shrugging it all off. "So. What about you? How were your vacations?"

"Oh, the same old. My parents travelled, I did a winter program in Spain… same old" she shrugged. "Nothing too special. I missed Godric's Hollow"

"You are the only one that misses this hellhole" he mumbled, and when she turned to him, he yawned again and stood up. "I'm off to the bathroom, come back in a minute"

He left the room with a sigh, feeling the guilt over his shoulders. He shouldn't speak like this. Rubbing his eyes, he walked to the bathroom, hoping to get it empty so he could wash his face and complain a bit to himself.

And maybe let himself think a bit about a certain blond he had just met a few hours ago.


	6. Frustration

The rest of the day went by quick, and Albus arrived home to the smell of pizza and chamomile tea (strange combination, yes, but more common than Albus would have liked), and to the sound of some American TV show coming from the living room.

He put his bag down, pulled the scarf from around his neck and put both the scarf and his coat over the hanger by the door, before heading to the kitchen, seeing the living room empty. The kitchen was also empty, and thus he took two pieces of pizza from the box and put them in the microwave to heat up before serving himself some still-warm chamomile tea, no sugar.

It tasted like grass.

Sighing, he put the mug down when the microwave rang, and pulled out the pieces, sitting down by the table and beginning to eat, alone.

Only then he heard footsteps coming down from the second floor.

"You said you would be back around eight" the shadow said, and Albus sighed, rubbing his eyes. "It is past eleven"

"I'm sorry" he said, looking at the shadow in the distance. "The principal asked me to stay later, he said he has some kind of promotion to give me… I don't know, I just didn't want to seem lazy in my first day of the semester"

"It's fine" Aberforth sighed, coming out from the dark living room and walking towards the table, sitting in front of Albus. "I was just tired. Wanted to sleep. But you said you wanted to talk…"

"Yes, because of what you said earlier" Albus said, serious. "Aberforth, you didn't even know the boy! You entered in his house, almost broke in, and defied him? Abe, you need to stop getting into fights…"

"What if he had Ariana with him on propose?" Aberforth asked, narrowing his eyes. "Was I supposed to ask politely 'oh, where are you keeping my sister locked in?' Albus give me a break! He comes out of nowhere saying he is Bathilda's nephew?! We have never heard of him!"

"Abe, I know why you did it, and I would have done the same, but your attitude is what doesn't help!" Albus tried, sighing when Aberforth rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "You should have asked to come in, asked him about Ari, showed him the texts… not just assume he kidnapped her!"

"Yeah, you are right. Next time I will ask if the pervert if he is keeping my sister locked up somewhere and if he says no I will just walk away and just wait for her to come home" Aberforth said, nodding. "That sure sounds like a plan"

"That's not what I said Aberforth!"

"That's what you implied, Albus!"

"I just want you to stop getting into trouble!"

"You don't get to tell me what to do!"

"Yes I do!" Albus screamed, standing up and slamming his hand on the table. "I am your legal guardian whether you want it or not Aberforth and I am responsible for you!"

"You know where you can stick that responsibility" Aberforth spat out, eyes digging holes into Albus' soul. He stood up then, and uncrossed his arms, grabbing the note from the headmistress and throwing it on the table. "If you want me back to school, you need to sign this. I was late. Again"

Albus looked down at the paper slowly, feeling all frustration turn to anger inside his body, but he just took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Go. To your room. And tomorrow you will take this to your headmistress" he said, without opening his eyes, keeping them closed until he heard the footsteps on the staircase.

Then, he collapsed over the chair, and groaned loudly, pulling onto his hair out of frustration until there were tears in his eyes from the sharp pain of the tugs.

After that, he recomposed himself, took another deep breath, and signed the god damned paper.

As Aberforth reached the first floor, he saw someone waiting for him by the door of his room. He was still angry, for sure, but the sight of his sister made him smile.

"Aren't you asleep yet?" he asked, curious, walking to her and opening the door to his bedroom. She rushed inside, jumping on his bed and sitting by the headboard.

"I was but I heard screaming and woke up" Ariana said, frowning, and he sighed, closing the door behind himself. "You and Albus fought again? Because of me?"

"Ari, we would never fight because of you" Abe assured, smiling as he pulled off his shirt and laid down next to her, yawning tiredly. She looked at him, eyes suspicious.

"So you two were fighting?"

"Ari, don't worry yourself about it" he said, tapping the place next to him and smiling as she wiggled down and laid face to face with him. "You need to sleep. Won't you wake up early to make the cookies?"

"We weren't even invited to Bathilda's house, and besides, I thought you wouldn't allow me to go" she replied, biting her lip. Aberforth shook his head, smiling at her.

"I would never hold you back from doing something you enjoy. And besides, Albus is certain that whoever that guy is, he is actually nice" he rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I don't like him, but I won't stop you from apologizing."

"You should apologize too" Ariana said, firmly, and Aberforth huffed, rolling his eyes yet again. "Please Abe, it won't cost you a thing"

"My dignity perhaps"

"Is your dignity more important than our brother's contentment?"

Aberforth looked at her and she was staring at him, eyes wide, the ghost of a smile on her lips. She wiggled her eyebrows, making him snort with laugher, before shaking his head and groaning.

"Aaaaaaaaah you'll be the death of my little sister" he groaned, pulling her for a tight hug and smiling when she cuddled up to him. "Fine, I will apologize"

"Good" she mumbled against his chest, closing her eyes and curling up against his warm embrace. "You shouldn't fight Albus so much. He is trying his best to care for us… he gets really stressed, it is unfair to be mean to him"

"I'm not mean to him" Aberforth replied, frowning, and she looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Ugh fine I may be a little mean but it isn't my intention!"

"Then get better with words" she huffed and slapped his arm. "Now sleep."

"Fine fine… goodnight Ari"

"Goodnight Abe"


	7. Getting ready

In the next day, everything was normal. Ariana woke up earlier to make breakfast, Albus and Aberforth woke up at their assigned times, took their showers and changed, and met Ariana for breakfast, talking as normal, as if they hadn't fought the passing night. Albus wished them both a good day and kissed their heads as usual, and Aberforth went out right after that, promising Ariana to come home earlier to help her decorate the cookies she was going to make, despite of Bathilda never actually asking them to come over to her house.

However, when the clock rang noon, Ariana heard the phone ringing and accepted the call, smiling when she heard the old woman's voice on the other side of the phone.

"Ariana darling! It is me, Bathilda!"

"Hey Bathilda" she said, happy she had called. "How are you doing? How can I help you?"

"OH sweetheart, I am doing fine. I just wanted to know when your brother Albus comes home from work?"

"Usually around eight in the evening. Why?"

"Oh darling, please let him and your brother Aberforth know that you don't have to make dinner tonight. I want you three to come over! I have a very special guest to introduce to you!"

"Of course! I will tell them right away" she said, excited, despite of the thought of seeing that boy again made her slightly nervous. Although, she would be with her brothers, so there would be no problem. "See you later Bathilda!"

"See you later, sweetie"

And just like that, she hang up, and Ariana giggled to herself, before she smelled the cookies and rushed to the kitchen to check them.

Hopefully that boy liked gingerbread cookies.

Aberforth arrived home not much after the call, and Ariana was quick to tell him about it as the cookies were put away to cool down. He stared at her, a little surprised, and then chuckled.

"Honestly, sometimes I think our brother has some type of secret future vision because sure, it makes sense she would call us to meet her nephew, but how did he even think that?" he chuckled, and Ariana shrugged.

"Well, he is very smart, and he usually reads people very well. He knows Bathilda is very lonely and that we are the closest she has of a family here in Godric's Hollow, so probably he just added two plus two and came up with it" she smirked, while Aberforth looked at her, wide eyed. "You are the only one that can't see things Abe."

"I'm surrounded by nerds and creeps"

"Abe!" she squealed, slapping his arm as he began laughing. "We are not creeps! We just notice patterns on people!"

"Complete and total creeps"

"Aberforth Dumbledore stop calling your siblings creeps!"

"Alright alright" he chuckled, pulling her for a side hug and looking at her cookies. "Changing subjects completely, how do you want to work on those baked sweets you did right there? Any ideas?"

"Uh… Bathilda likes history right? Maybe her nephew likes it too?" Ariana asked, leaning into Aberforth and humming. "I think we could make like some history symbols…"

"Like Napoleon? Or like, places?" he asked, and she smiled.

"Both! We can make so many people! But no Napoleon because he is evil" she frowned and Abe smirked.

"I think it fits her nephew perfectly."

"Aberforth!"

"What?"

"Something wrong?"

Albus looked up from his phone, sighing as he saw Minerva approaching him in the break room. He sipped on his coffee and crossed his legs while he sat on the chair.

"Not wrong exactly" he mumbled, putting his phone down. "I have a dinner tonight. In Bathilda's house"

"That old lady that acts like a distant relative?" Minerva asked, sitting in front of him, and he nodded.

"Her nephew arrived from wherever he lived before and she wants us to meet him" he mumbled, leaning against his hand. "What she doesn't know is that we already met him yesterday."

"You met him?" she asked curiously, grabbing a mug with coffee and sipping on it. He nodded.

"My sister was cleaning up for her, he arrived, she freaked out… it was a mess. In the end, she was too scared to talk to him, Aberforth made a huge mess that almost got the police involved, and I had to go over and apologize. So we all know him already."

"That is surely not going to be a super awkward meeting" Minerva chuckled over her mug, making Albus stare at her.

"Don't remind me of what I can't forget. Please" he requested, and then sighed. "Hopefully it won't last long, and there will be no drinks involved. It is impossible to handle Aberforth after he has drunk something."

"Then don't let him drink" she said, and Albus rolled his eyes. "But honestly Alb, this is good for you. Meeting new people, making new friends… you need more people in your life. You live for your siblings, and it is very noble of you, but you are twenty years old. You need a social life. Your only friends are me, your retail co-workers, the children and Elphias, who hasn't sent you a message in at least a month" she raised her eyebrow, and Albus looked at her, confused.

"How do you know about Elphias?"

"You always tell me what's he's up to. You haven't said anything in a month, which means you don't know anything of him" she explained, and he sighed, looking away. "Please. Try to befriend this guy."

"I… sure" he mumbled, a flash of what had happened in the day prior burning in his head. "I will do my best."

"Good" she smiled and tapped his shoulder. "Now we need to head back to the classroom"

"Sure, let's go"

By the time Albus arrived, everyone was ready. He didn't even waste time to check, he rushed for a quick shower and a change of clothing while Ariana and Aberforth waited downstairs with a bunch of history inspired cookies inside a big jar. Aberforth was rocking his usual style: loose ripped jeans, a long tank top and a leather coat over everything, with his hair styled to the side and his face not at all shaved (despite of him not having even the thought of a full beard yet). Ariana, on the other side, was trying to go dressed as sweetly as possible, with her black leggings underneath a blue dress that was a bit too short to be wore without anything underneath, and a nice blue coat that Bathilda herself had made her. Her long hair was tied up in a ponytail, with a bow on the back of her head, and on her feet, a nice pair of sneakers.

They had been ready half an hour before Albus arrived, and knowing their brother, he would return around fifteen minutes later, his shower usually taking five minutes and his clothes choices usually during ten. This time, however, forty five minutes had passed, the shower had been turned off for half an hour, and there was no sign of him.

It was almost nine, and that was because he had arrived early.

"Abe, I'm worried" Ariana said, looking at the stairs, and Aberforth sighed.

"And I am annoyed."

"I'll go check on him" she gave Abe the jar and walked towards the stairs, rushing up despite her older brother's complaints. Slowly, she approached the room that used to be their parents, where Albus slept now, and knocked, biting her lip. "Albus?"

She heard a loud sound of something falling, a groan, and then the sound of something crashing on the ground. Even more worried, she opened the door, running inside.

"Albus?!"

If Ariana was worried before, at the sight, she had the extreme need to laugh.

Albus was laying on the ground, defeated, with half of his left leg inside very tight black jeans and the other leg tied up to the sheets from the bed. He was shirtless as well, his hair all over his face, and he held a black shirt with star patterns on his left hand, while the right was close to the scattered lamp that had broke down as it hit the ground.

"I'm not going" he huffed out, blowing the hair off his face and slowly sitting up, untying his leg from the sheets. Ariana giggled and closed the door behind herself, walking towards the bed and sitting down, watching him.

"Albus, you are going for a dinner with an old friend, not to prom" she said, offering her hand as he finally untied himself. He groaned, taking the offer and using her to stand up easier. "I feel that someone is nervous."

"Why would I be nervous?" he asked, his voice seeming to wave a little as he sat next to her and pulled the pants off his leg. "There is no reason to be nervous. The guy is nice. He is nice, I talked to him. There's no reason for nerves."

"Albus" she called, smiling, and he looked at her. "You're rambling."

"I… yes I am" Albus sighed, rubbing his face and then taking a deep breath. "I'm fine."

"Why are you nervous?" Ariana asked, taking his hand and looking around the room, at all the scattered clothes around. "You can't find anything good to wear?"

"Well yes! I need to make a good first impression!"

"Didn't he see you with your retail work uniform yesterday?"

Albus' face went white and Ariana held back a giggle, her head slowly picking up the pieces to the puzzle. He then groaned, laying down on the bed and covering his face with his hands.

"Oh god"

"Albus… let me help you okay?" she asked, standing up and tapping his leg. "Come on. Sit up and decide with me"

Albus slowly sat up and stared at her as she looked around at the discarded clothes and the ones still inside his closet. After a bit of conversation and some options, she found a pair of black jeans that would actually fit her brother, and a nice button up shirt that belonged to their father. She showed him the pair, combined with the scarf she found in the back of the closet, and he stared at it, fascinated.

"Ariana… you are my salvation" he breathed out, standing up and pulling her for a hug. She giggled and hugged him back the best she could while holding those clothes. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome Alb! But change and come quick. Aberforth is almost giving up" she poked his chest and gave him the clothes before walking to the door. She stopped as she opened it and looked at him, smirking. "I bet he will find you irresistible" she added, winking and holding back a laugh at the expression Albus sent her before she walked out and closed the door.

Quickly, she returned to the living room, and Aberforth looked at her, annoyed.

"Is he coming?"

"Yes, just give him five minutes"

After three, he walked downstairs, smiling at his siblings and nodding.

"let's go?"

Ariana grinned and jumped up as Aberforth rolled his eyes and pushed himself up.

Finally, they left to Bathilda's house.


	8. Meeting Grindelwald for the Second Time

"Tell me again why you took so long to change Albus?" Aberforth asked as they walked towards Bathilda's house. Albus opened his mouth to answer, but Ariana was quicker.

"He couldn't find pants that actually fit" she answered dryly, and Albus nodded.

"Exactly. Thank you little sister"

"And what about your loose hair?" Aberforth asked again, looking at Albus. "You never leave it loose. Why is it loose today?"

"Oh shi..." Albus put his hand over his hair and groaned. "Oh god damn it! I forgot to tie my hair!"

"It looks fine just like it is Alb" Ariana said, slapping Aberforth on the arm to try and make him shut up. Albus, however, did not seem as if he agreed. "Do you want my ribbon?"

"What?"

"My ribbon" she pointed to the bow on the back of her head. "If you want we can stop so I can tie your hair with it and then we can go to Bathilda's house. What do you think?"

"Stop again?! Really?" Aberforth growled, and Ariana just sent him an annoyed look. Then she turned to Albus again and smiled.

"Come on. Sit down on that bench, I will tie it up in a second" she said, undoing her bow and letting her hair hang loose. Albus bit his lip and then walked to the bench, sitting down so she could reach his head.

"Are you sure you don't want to keep it Ari?"

"I don't mind my hair loose" she assured, holding the ribbon and Albus' hair. "Do you want a braid, a ponytail, a bun?"

"No no, just the fringe" he said, showing her the front of his hair. "Just pull these together and tie them behind my head. You can leave the rest of the hair loose, it just bothers me to walk around with hair on my face"

"You should cut it" Aberforth said as she began tying it up. "Like seriously Albus, your hair is down to your lower back. Soon, it will reach your ass."

"It won't" Albus rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "I like it long."

"I have long hair" Abe insisted, waving his locks around. His hair went down to his shoulders, curled and with a fancy waved fringe to the left. "Your hair is absurd. Not even Ariana has such long hair."

"I don't let it grow further because the tips get really dry" she explained, and Aberforth rolled his eyes once more. "Albus has good hair. Its soft to the brim"

"That's women talk."

"Men should take care of themselves as well."

"Ariana, is it done?"

She and Aberforth looked down at Albus, and nodded slowly, letting go from his hair. It was nicely tied on the back, going down to the middle of his lower back, almost at his hips line. He nodded, turning towards the house and walking in front of them both, silent.

"What's up with him?" Abe asked, confused and slightly worried, but Ariana just hit his arm again, making him groan. "What?!"

"Sometimes you really can be an arse" she huffed and ran after Albus, leaving a confused Abe behind to follow up their steps quickly after.

Sooner rather than later they reached the house, and Albus cleaned his throat before knocking on the door. Ariana felt a sudden fear rush up to her, but she moved closer to Aberforth and it quickly vanished, leaving her only nervous. After a few seconds, the door opened, and Bathilda gave them a big smile.

"Oh sweethearts! Come in, come in! Its so cold out! You must be freezing!" she said, urging them in. The three Dumbledores made their way inside, looking around and removing their coats at the warmth of the house. "I'm so glad you could come!"

"You're welcome miss Bagshot" Aberforth said, smiling and handing her the jar of cookies he had been carrying. "This is for you."

"Oh sweetheart thank you!" she took the cookies and nodded around. "Feel free to sit down, I will be right back!"

She disappeared into her house and slowly they made themselves comfortable, with Ariana and Aberforth sitting on the smaller couch, while Albus asserted himself in the bigger one, leaving the single chair for Bathilda. After a few minutes she returned, smiling brightly.

"You know children, I'm so glad you could make it because I have someone to present to you" she said, seeming overly excited, and then stepped to the side. "This is my grandnephew Gellert!"

The boy came out from the corridor and stopped next to her, smiling to the family in front of him.

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you" he said, always politely, all of them having to pretend they didn't know each other already. He nodded to Ariana and Aberforth, who nodded back, both slightly uncomfortable for very different reasons, and then his eyes locked with Albus', his smile turning more into a smirk. "You must be the Dumbledores, if I'm not mistaken. My aunt has told me a lot about you."

"Weird, she told us nothing about you" Aberforth said suddenly, standing up and calling everyone's attention to him. He approached the blond boy and lifted his hand. "Aberforth Dumbledore."

"Oh Aberforth!" Bathilda chuckled, as Gellert slowly accepted his handshake. "Don't worry Gel, he has always been suspicious this boy... Abe, sweetie, Gellert is a good man. You don't have to worry!"

"I am sure I don't" Aberforth said, but their eyes were still locked, sparks flying between them. "Do I?"

"Not at all, Aberforth" Gellert said, his voice calm as he shook the younger boy's hand. "You can trust me."

"Sure thing"

"Well, now that you two have already shaken hands, Gellert, come meet the other Dumbledores" Bathilda said excitedly, and Aberforth let go from his hand, returning to his sister's side without taking his eyes from the blond. "That is Ariana, the sweet Dumbledore girl."

"H-hello" she said, waving, and he waved back, not approaching. She was thankful for it, moving closer to Aberforth just for reassurance, but seeing no immediate threat on Gellert.

"She's very shy that one" Bathilda said, winking, and Ariana smiled at the old lady. "And that is the eldest, Albus."

They walked closer to him, and Albus stood up, his cheeks rosy. He cleaned his throat and lifted his hand for a handshake, a shaky smile on his face.

"Hello Gellert. It is a pleasure" he said, trying to keep his voice steady, but unlike with Aberforth, Gellert took his hand and pulled it up to his hand, kissing his knuckles, piercing eyes digging into Albus'.

"The pleasure is all mine."

Albus went red like his hair, and Bathilda giggled to herself, shaking her head.

"Oh Gellert, you and your Hungarian ways... don't worry about it Albus, he just likes to make people embarrassed. A little trickster" she said, fondly, and Albus coughed weakly, nodding and looking away.

"Y-yeah sure" he mumbled, sitting back down and crossing his legs as he looked as far away as possible from anyone in the room. Luckily for him, because Ariana was holding back a laugh while Aberforth seemed to be killing Gellert with his eyes. Bathilda clapped her hand and smiled at the guests.

"Well, I will go to the kitchen check on dinner. Please make yourselves comfortable" she said, walking away, and leaving Gellert to sit down next to Albus on the biggest couch. Aberforth did not seem to like that even slightly.

"So, Gellert" Ariana said, before Abe could even say something, smiling at the older boy "you are from Hungary?"

"Actually, no" he said, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back against the couch. "I was born in Servia, but I spent my whole life in Hungary."

"Wow! And what were you studying?" she asked, even more interested, since Albus seemed to be trying to leave through the window with his mind and Aberforth was almost buffing against her ear out of anger.

"I had just begun my major in medicine" he explained, shrugging. "But I gave up, and my parents sent me here to start again."

"Oh! And are you going to try medicine here?" Ariana asked, even more curious, and Gellert sighed.

"Not yet. I am unsure. I will take this year off to get used to Britain, to Godric's Hollow, and maybe begin working to help my aunt. Then I will begin to worry about college."

"You don't need a year to get used to Godric's Hollow. Two days is more than enough" Albus said suddenly, voice quiet, showing that he was actually paying attention to the conversation. Eyes turned to him and he slowly looked over, blinking in surprise. "W-what?"

"What did you just say?" Aberforth asked, narrowing his eyes, and Albus frowned.

"I... said something?"

"I think you thought out loud" Ariana said, smiling, and Albus blushed again, nodding slowly.

"Yes, probably" he mumbled, looking away again. Gellert's eyes stuck to him for a little longer than necessary before he turned back to face Ariana.

"What about you?" he asked, looking also to Aberforth. "What do you three do?"

"Well actually I don't do anything" Ariana said, chuckling to herself. "I take care of the house, the barn and the garden, and sometimes I work for your aunt, but I am homeschooled."

"I'm in high school" Aberforth said, dryly. "And I work part time in the town's library."

"And Albus works in the supermarket and-"

"And study" Albus said, suddenly, and Ariana looked at him furrowing her eyebrows as he looked back at Gellert, seeming extremely nervous. "I study. It's not a university, more like a class, and it's a bit far away, but that's what I do. I study"

Ariana and Aberforth stared at him as if he had two heads, completely confused, but luckily Gellert was staring at him and not them.

"Or, and what is this class about?" he asked curiously and Albus breathed in, nervously.

"Ancient history!" he said, loudly, as he saw a book from Bathilda's collection just in his sight about Atlantis. "Ancient history... it's what I like the most, it's... amazing really!"

"Oh, just like my auntie" Gellert said, seeming content, and Albus breathed out slowly, giving him a smile.

"Yes... just like her"

"Children! Dinner is ready!"

The four of them looked up and Gellert smiled, standing and nodding for them to come with him. Albus stood up and so did Ariana and Aberforth, both of them approaching their older brother.

"Why didn't you tell him you worked at-" Aberforth tried, but Albus shushed him with his hand.

"Don't say anything about the kindergarten" he whispered, and when Abe opened his mouth again, Albus covered it up with his hand. "Just don't! Okay?! I will explain later"

And just like that he walked to the kitchen, leaving the two younger Dumbledores confused and a little concerned.


	9. Her

The Dumbledores followed Bathilda and Gellert to the kitchen, sitting by the table and gathering around the food. Bathilda sat in one end, with Gellert next to her, and Ariana and Aberforth sat side by side on the other side, leaving only the other head of the table or the place next to Gellert to Albus. Considering he was not a part of the family, he sat next to the blond out of pure respect and tradition, despite of not really feeling like it.

"I did my special recipe of Sheppard Pie. I've heard it is an Irish dish, and your family is from Ireland isn't it?" Bathilda asked, looking around the three red heads. Aberforth nodded, smiling at her.

"Yes, we are. But like, our grandparents were from Ireland. We have never even been there" he shrugged it off, before his attention fell on the pie. "Although I must say, this looks delicious miss."

"Call me Bathilda Aberforth!" she laughed, nodding to them. "Please, serve yourselves! Gellert, lovely, could you please make me a plate?"

"Of course nagynéni" Gellert answered, taking her plate, waiting just for Aberforth to take some for himself, despite of Albus' glances. Ariana just rolled her eyes at the silent fight her brothers were having over Aberforth's lack of manners, and turned to Gellert, who was finally serving Bathilda.

"Are you fluent in Hungarian?" she asked, noticing the different word he used, and he looked up at her before nodding.

"Yes, I am. I've lived there my whole life" he chuckled, giving a little sarcastic smirk at her. "If I didn't speak their language, I don't think I would have been able to do two classes in any school."

"Well yes, but you are also fluent in English, so I imagined you studied in a foreign school in Hungary" she replied, just as witty, and his smirk became a smile.

"I like you" Gellert said, and nodded his head so she would serve herself. She did so, getting some pie and some potatoes. "Well I studied in a full Hungarian school, but I did study English as well. Like I said, my family is from Servia, so I also know their language. And I took German classes, just in case I was able to make my internship over Germany."

"You're fluent in four languages?" Aberforth asked, trying not to sound amazed and not being able to. He was clearly impressed, although not in a good way. Gellert looked at him and smiled, ever so kindly.

"Fluent yes, but I am currently studying two others. My French speech is fluent but I cannot write it even if I try very hard. My Portuguese is the contrary. I can write it extremely well but the pronunciation is difficult" he said, and Aberforth's mouth opened a bit. Bathilda giggled.

"Oh my sweet boy loves to study. That is what he has done all his life" she said, tapping his shoulder lightly. Aberforth's surprise left his face and it became an angry stare, but the old lady did not seem to notice. Albus, however, was mesmerized.

"And here I was thinking studying three languages was enough" he chuckled, and Gellert turned to face him, smiling.

"What do you study?"

"Well, I did a German course a few years ago, but speaking it is very hard for me" he chuckled, looking down at his plate before he began serving himself, the last in the table to do so. "But I also love studying dead languages."

"Which ones you know?" Gellert pressured, interested, leaning his head on his hand and making Albus chuckle shyly.

"Um, I study Latin and Ancient Greek. Those are my favourite languages out of the dead ones. Although my mother wanted me to study ancient Gaelic."

The table went silent suddenly. Albus kept his glance on his plate, while Aberforth immediately put his plate down and Ariana looked up at her older brother, surprised. Bathilda even looked around, uncomfortable, while Gellert stared to the people on the table, trying to understand the sudden silence.

"And… she doesn't anymore?" he asked, confused, trying to keep the conversation going despite of the awkward moment. However, he was met with a clink from a fork falling on a plate and the empty stare of the middle Dumbledore.

"She's dead."

Albus visibly winced at that, giving Aberforth a quick look, while Ariana placed her hand on her brother's leg, trying to calm him.

"Abe…"

"You know what? This was a horrible idea, I have no clue why I accepted to come here" Aberforth said, coldly, and stood up, making Ariana gasp and Albus snap his head up.

"Aberforth!"

"Sorry miss Bagshot, I didn't mean to ruin your dinner like this. I bet your nephew can be an incredible person but I surely don't see it, and I never wanted to come here in the first place" he said, pushing his plate away and circling the chair he was sitting on to push it under the table. "Also you forgot the beans in your Sheppard pie so next time, find a real Irish recipe before trying to make someone happy. Excuse me."

And just like that, he turned around and walked out of the kitchen. Ariana stood up immediately, with Albus following right behind, both looking between the kitchen entrance and the table.

"I'm so sorry Bathilda. I'm sorry Gellert" Ariana said, in a rush, and ran off after her brother, the three left listening the front door bang twice, once strong and the second time softly.

Albus stood still for a few seconds before looking down at house owners and sighed shakily, pushing his chair under the table.

"I am very very sorry" he whispered, before he left as well, running after his siblings. "Ariana! Aberforth!"

He ran towards their house, looking around the dark streets. After running for a short time, he heard someone talking on the side of the road, close to the little river that passed by the village, and rushed to it, seeing two shadows at moonlight.

As he approached, he relaxed, listening to their familiar voices.

"You have to calm yourself down Aberforth!"

"Calm myself down?! Ariana, how can you say something like that?! He-"

"Abe, Ari, I… I am so sorry" Albus said as he approached, looking between the two. Ariana sighed, shaking her head.

"Albus, it's fine. We-"

"Fine?!" Aberforth asked, and let out a dry, fake laugh. "Fine? So that's what it is. Fine. It is just fine that you spoke about her in the first ever time you saw that creep! Or maybe it wasn't, was it? Did you and he have a nice chat yesterday?"

"Aberforth, I didn't mean to say anything" Albus tried, his voice serious, but all of them could notice how shaky it actually was. Aberforth chuckled again, and brushed his hair back, turning away from Albus. "It's true! It just came out, I-I don't know why I said it!"

"Of course! The guy that says nothing wrong, that is known around town as the boy that always knew how to answer a question, a person that claims to be extremely good at 'formulating phrases' couldn't think for a second before saying something like that to a stranger!" Aberforth said, turning around and pointing at him. "You should have fucking known better than to open that huge mouth of yours!"

"Aberforth stop!" Ariana said, her voice trembling as she watched her brothers fight. Her eyes were filling up with tears as she walked closer to him. "Aberforth please stop this! Albus didn't mean any harm!"

"You know how long we haven't spoken about them? About her? Two whole years" Aberforth said, shaking his head. "We haven't said anything. The three of us have never had a conversation about it. And you go there, at the first dinner with that bleached haired asshole and says it as if it is weather talk!"

"We haven't talked about it because _you_ don't want to, Aberforth!" Albus screamed back, and both Ariana and Aberforth stepped back, with him in front of her, always protective.

"What do you mean by that? I never-" Aberforth said, his voice lowering volume, but Albus didn't allow him to continue it.

"SHE IS DEAD ABERFORTH" Albus screamed at the top of his lungs, tugging onto his hair and closing his eyes. "She is dead and you are the only one in this fucking family that can't seem to believe it! She didn't disappear, she is not coming back, she is seven feet under the earth, and she has been for two years, buried right beneath this fucking village! Our mother is dead! And you refuse to accept it because you are a spoiled little boy that can't understand what death really means!"

Albus took a deep breath, stepping backwards and opening his eyes again as he allowed his hands to fall to his sides. As he did, however, the regret was immediate. Aberforth was staring at him with his eyes filled with tears, a frown on his face and his eyebrows furrowed, as if he was holding back from outright sobbing, his hands curled into fists. After a few seconds of silence, he walked towards Albus, slowly, and stood face to face with him, tears sliding down his cheeks.

And then he threw a punch to his face as hard as he could, right on his nose.

"Aberforth!" Ariana screamed from behind him as Albus fell to the ground, groaning and holding his nose. Not for long, however, as Aberforth straddled him and threw another punch on his face, sending his glasses flying off. Albus tried to hold his hands but he was met with another punch that sent his head back onto the floor, and then another that split his lip.

"I hate you" Aberforth growled, giving him another punch, and only then Ariana was able to move, pulling Aberforth away from Albus and holding him to the best of her abilities as he struggled. "I HATE YOU!"

"Aberforth please!" she begged, pulling him for a hug as he began sobbing, leaning into her as she stared back at Albus. He slowly sat up, checking the blood coming out from his nose and lip and then groaning to himself, before looking back at his siblings, the image blurry because of his lack of glasses. He tried to stand up and lost his balance, falling down again and holding himself on his fours as a cough came out of his throat.

"Let's go home" Aberforth mumbled between his tears, holding Ariana close to him and leading her back to the road. She looked back, at Albus, but followed Abe, holding onto his jacket and feeling her own tears falling at the pain in her heart.

"Abe?" Albus asked, his voice hoarse, and looked around at the dark, blurry forest around him. His eyes were now teary, and he felt his heart sinking down to his stomach. "Aberforth? Ariana? Abe? Ari? P-please… I'm sorry!" he called, looking around, slowly standing up by leaning up against a tree. "Aberforth! Ariana!"

The silence responded nothing to him, and he closed his eyes, the sobs coming up to his throat as he covered his face.

He was a mess. He was so so wrong. He was horrible. He slid down the tree and gripped onto his shirt, above his heart, curling up against himself by the tree base.

He hated himself so, so much.

So, so much.


	10. Memories

_He remembered hiding behind the couch as the sirens and the lights made him dizzy. His mother was talking by the door, trying not to open it, trying to hold it back, while his father stood in front of him, protective, still hiding._

 _His mother yelled, pleaded, and pushed the door close, but they were already coming in through the windows. His brother and sister curled up against him, crying, scared and confused, while he tried to make sense of that situation the best he could._

 _It wasn't until his father held his hands and made him look at his eyes that he understood._

 _"Albus" he whispered, caressing his wet cheeks and smiling weakly. "Albus, please listen to me. It will be up to you now. Help your mother. Protect your brother and sister. And remember, no matter what happens to me, I love you. I love you so much, my brave young boy."_

 _"Dad..." he whispered, holding his father's hands as his mother rushed closer, hugging them all in a tight embrace. His father returned the hug, and the three children were squeezed together between the two adults, with Albus holding Ariana and Aberforth close._

 _"Protect them Albus" were his last words, before the door fell down and the police officers walked inside, running to his father and taking him by the arms._

 _"Percival! You can't do this! You can't do this, let my husband go!" his mother yelled, fighting her way with the officers and trying to reach his father._

 _"Daddy!" Ariana cried out, trying to run to him, but Albus held her back, hugging both siblings and watching as his father was taken out of their home, his mom crying after him until he was taken outside._

 _She fell to her knees right in front of the exit, crying, and Albus stood up with Aberforth and Ariana glued to him, trying to remain calm._

 _Slowly, the sirens and lights left, and the house was left in darkness and silence._

 _Years later, he had grown up. He was eighteen, just out of school, ready to fight his way into a good university, proud of his achievements, returning home from a long interview in the library's computer. Albus was certain his life was about to change for the better._

 _Until he reached home, opened the door, and found Ariana crying by their mother's feet._

 _She had her eyes closed, her skin was pale, and she wasn't moving. He rushed to his sister, pulling her closer and asking desperately what happened. She didn't seem to listen, and honestly he wasn't sure he asked anything out loud in the first place._

 _He called the ambulance, checking her breathing, her heart beats, and she was silent. She was gone, she looked sick, she looked dead._

 _The ambulance arrived, they did all they could, and her heart began beating again. Weak, slow, but beating. She gasped for air, and reached out for who was next to her, grabbing his hand in the weakest way possible._

 _"Albus" she gasped out, and he moved closer, so she could see him._

 _"Mom, I'm here. You will be fine" he promised, the ambulance rushing to the hospital. She shook her head, and opened her eyes, looking straight into his eyes the best she could._

 _"Albus... take... take them... take care of them..." she whispered, squeezing his hand and making him freeze._

 _"Mom, you will be fine, you will do just that, I promise- you will be okay!" he said, looking around desperately for the doctors in the ambulance that were trying to stabilize her. Outside, he could see the colors, he could hear the siren, and he knew perfectly well that it would be just like last time._

 _"Promise... me..." she breathed out, and Albus looked again, holding her hand tight and swallowing thickly._

 _"I promise... I will take care of them, I promise."_

 _She smiled at him, lifting her other hand and touching his cheek ever so lightly._

 _"I love you... my brave... young... boy" she whispered, and her eyes went blank. Her hands fell, and the doctors pushed him away, giving her another shock._

 _Albus stood still, staring, knowing that there would be no way of waking her up again._

 _And her eyes never moved again._

His eyes stared at his own reflection on the river, seeing the blue in his eyes, just like theirs.

Would they be happy about the choices he had made?

Was he following what they had asked of him?

Albus honestly didn't think so.

And that destroyed him inside.


	11. Ice Cold

In the next morning, the house woke up with no sound of alarms, no smell of pancakes and eggs, with no steps along the halls. The house woke up silent, dead silent, unlike it had been for a long, long time.

The knock came shy and quiet from Aberforth's door, and he pulled the sheets closer to himself, hugging them. Despite of being awake, he did not answer, looking at the wall in front of him.

The knock sounded again, and he remained quiet.

"Aberforth?" came Ariana's soft voice, and he sighed, rubbing his eyes and turning around on the bed. "I know you are there... and awake... I need to talk to you."

"Come in" he said, against his will, and kept his eyes on the wall as she came inside. Slowly, she walked towards his bed and sat on it, silent. He remained quiet as well. Neither of them wanted to talk.

So they didn't, until the silence grew too uncomfortable.

"Aberforth, Albus didn't come home last night."

He tensed up slightly, but pretended not to care, remaining in his position with Ariana behind his back.

"Good. I didn't want to look at his face today" he said, coldly, and she sighed, shaking her head.

"Aberforth, he didn't come home. He is nowhere inside this house. Doesn't that worry you? Not even a little bit?"

"He is an adult that can do exactly what he wants to do" he answered, beginning to become angry. "Besides, how do you know he didn't just come and left before you woke up?"

"I couldn't sleep last night Aberforth, and I can bet you didn't either" Ariana responded, her voice clearly angry, but then she sighed and put her hand on his shoulder. "Abe please... Albus has never spent a night out since... two years ago. He has never let us alone, even if he came too late and left too early. I am worried about him."

"Maybe he just didn't want to come back home. I wouldn't blame him" Aberforth mumbled, but the worry was beginning to bother his heart. She sighed and squeezed his shoulder.

"Please turn to face me?"

He sighed, and waited a few seconds before slowly rolling around on the bed. He faced her, and she faced him right back, both with their eyes puffy and with light bags underneath. Neither had slept that night, and they had only stopped crying very recently.

"Have you tried to call his friends?" Abe asked, slowly sitting up and fixing himself on the bed. "McGonagall, his manager? Cam? Maybe... maybe he even went back to Bathilda's. We don't fucking know"

"Don't get angry if he did Aberforth" Ariana said, firmly, and he shut up immediately. "I didn't call anyone. Lets try that."

"Do you have their numbers?"

"No..."

"Leave it to me then. Go downstairs and call Bagshot. He is probably in someone's house."

Ariana nodded and stood up, rushing to the first floor while Aberforth reached for his cellphone and began calling to Albus' friends and work place.

"Anything?"

"Nothing" Aberforth sighed, standing up and gathering his clothes after he threw his phone on the bed. "All of them said they only saw Albus yesterday... did you have any luck?"

"No, Bathilda said he is nowhere in her house" she sighed, and crossed her arms as she watched Aberforth change. "I... I am really worried now Abe, where... where could he be?"

"I have no idea Ari, but we will find out. Even if it is the last thing I do" Aberforth said, grabbing his coat and giving her a warm fuzzy jacket to dress. "And when we find him, I will be sure to give him another punch on the face so he doesn't worry us again, ever."

"You two shouldn't have fought yesterday" Ariana said, following Aberforth down the stairs and towards the front door. "That was completely unnecessary and irresponsible!"

"You tell that to him when we find him Ari, we have a lot of ground to cover."

She frowned at him, but stayed quiet, running after her brother as he began to walk faster towards the path to Bathilda's house.

"Albus?"

"Albus!"

Aberforth groaned, looking around the snowy streets while rubbing his hands together.

"It wasn't this cold last night" he mumbled, looking up at the grey sky above. Ariana nodded, moving closer to him and rubbing her own arms. "Where the fuck is Albus? For god's sake..."

"Why don't we check by the river? Around where you guys fought?" she suggested, looking at the little path towards the small arborized area. Aberforth frowned but then took her hand and began walking towards it.

"I swear to my life that if he spent the night in the cold, I will kill him" he huffed, making his way around the trees to reach the clearing where they had fought. "Albus!"

"Albus!"

"Dumbledore!"

They stopped, looking around at the voice coming from the middle of the trees. Aberforth stood in front of Ariana, and she looked over his shoulder, trying to find the source of the voice.

Suddenly, none other than Gellert Grindelwald showed up from behind a big tree.

"Grindelwald?" Aberforth asked, anger already boiling inside his body. Ariana looked at the blond, surprised.

"Gellert?"

"Ariana. Aberforth" he said upon seeing them, walking closer while looking around.

"What are you doing here?" Aberforth asked, suspicious and lacking a single drop of patience. Ariana sighed, but said nothing. Grindelwald raised his eyebrow and stopped in front of the siblings.

"Well, when you called to my aunt asking if Albus had spent the night, I guessed he wasn't with you two" he said, looking between the two Dumbledores. "So I decided to look around for him. And apparently, I was correct, since both of you are here as well."

"We don't need-"

"The more, the merrier" Ariana cut Aberforth off, walking to Gellert and taking his hand. "Please help. I am growing extremely worried!"

"Of course."

Aberforth and Grindelwald looked at each other for a few seconds, before the redhead rolled his eyes and wondered off into the woods, looking around for his brother. Ariana did the same, followed by Grindelwald, the three of them roughly in the same area but checking different places. They kept calling out for Albus, to no avail. No one was answering.

After almost one hour looking, they met again, the three of them tired and cold.

"He's not here" Ariana mumbled, hugging Aberforth's waist and nuzzling against his side. He sighed, and gave another look around. Now, they were way closer to the little river that made its way down the village. Grindelwald narrowed his eyes and gave another look around.

That was when, a few meters forward, he saw someone sitting by the river, on some rocks.

"There" he said, nodding, and both Ariana and Aberforth turned around quickly, running towards the person and being followed by Grindelwald. As they approached, the red hair was impossible not to recognize.

"Albus!" Ariana yelled, running to her brother and stopping right next to him. He didn't respond, he didn't even more. "Albus?"

"What's wrong?" Aberforth asked, stopping by the other side and touching his shoulder. "Albus?!"

Grindelwald walked in front of him and frowned at his curled up position. With gentle moves, he pulled Albus' arms away from where they were hugging his knees and tried to lift his head up. As he touched his chin, however, he pulled his hand away.

"He is freezing cold" he whispered, and touched his chin again, lifting his face and making both Ariana and Aberforth gasp.

Albus' face was a strange pale, almost grey, and his lips were almost blue. Upon being moved, he shivered uncontrollably and his eyes closed as he whimpered, trembling from head to toe.

"What happened?" Ariana whispered, her voice shaking, and Grindelwald frowned deeply.

"He spent the whole night out here. He is hypothermic" he explained, and then began removing his coat. "Take your coats out, we need to warm him up."

"Wh-why? What? Can't-can't we take him home? Put him in a warm bath, something like that?" Aberforth asked, his voice shaking, his hands trembling as he pulled his coat off. Ariana did the same, the three of them wrapping Albus around their warm jackets.

"No. You are going to call an ambulance. We need to warm him up slowly, or else he might get even worst" Gellert said, nodding for Aberforth to call and then noticing Albus closing his eyes. "Albus, look at me."

He looked up slowly, eyelids barely opening, and Gellert relaxed a little.

"Can you say anything? Try saying something."

Albus looked at him silently while Aberforth paced around nervously, waiting for the hospital to pick up. Ariana then kneeled next to Gellert and took Albus' hands on her own, trying to warm him up.

After a long while, Albus opened his mouth.

"c… c… col… cold…" he mumbled, his voice barely above a whisper, and Gellert nodded, placing his hands gently one on Albus' neck and another on his cheek, to warm him up. The eldest Dumbledore closed his eyes, leaning on the warmth and letting out a shaky breath.

"He will be fine" Gellert assured, smiling to Ariana. "He might get a flu or pneumonia but other than that, he will be fine. The doctors will probably want him to stay at home for a few days, though."

"No problem, we will take care of him" she assured and Aberforth returned, sitting next to Albus and looking at the others.

"The ambulance is coming… god damn it, I can't believe he spent the whole night in the cold" he groaned, looking at his older brother and feeling the frustration building up. "You're such an idiot Albus I swear…"

"May I ask why he spent the night here?" Gellert asked, but Aberforth immediately looked at him angrily.

"None of your concern."

"Alright" he nodded and hummed. "If you two want to be of any help, hugging him might warm him up as well."

"Yes!" Ariana squealed and pulled Albus into a hug, nuzzling against his cold hair. "I love you. You will be okay" she mumbled, all while Aberforth looked between Albus and Grindelwald.

"I promise I won't say anything about it."

Aberforth relaxed a bit at the older boy's comment and moved closer, wrapping his arms around Albus' waist and nuzzling against his shoulder. He stayed quiet, hiding his face away as guilt made his eyes tear up.

They stayed like that until the ambulance approached. Gellert stood up, running to the street and guiding the paramedics to the location but warning them that the situation was mostly controlled. As they arrived, they took Albus towards the ambulance, and one nurse looked at the three of them.

"Who is coming with us?" she asked, and Aberforth immediately stepped forward.

"I…" he then stopped, looking back at Ariana and Gellert. The blond boy raised an eyebrow while his sister smiled and waved.

"Go. I will be okay. We will be right behind you" she assured, and Aberforth bit his lip before nodding and running after the nurse towards the ambulance.

As soon as it drove off, Ariana let out a sigh and looked up at Gellert, who was still watching the car go away.

She poked his arm, and he looked down.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Gellert chuckled and shook his head.

"You don't have to thank me, lady Dumbledore" he said, pushing his hands inside his pants pockets. "I just did what anyone would do."

"You like my brother, don't you?" she asked, curiously, and he looked up once more, face expressionless.

"It depends on what liking means to you" he said, eyes up at the grey sky, and Ariana sighed, crossing her arms.

"I've never seen him look at anyone like he looks at you."

Gellert looked down at her, and she smiled weakly back at him, shrugging.

After a moment of silent, Gellert looked away again.

"We should go. Come on, I will get my aunt's car and take you to the hospital" he said, nodding and making his way back to her house. Ariana followed right behind, nodding and smiling to herself.


	12. Grindelwald and Dumbledore Compromise

When Gellert and Ariana reached the hospital, everything seemed to be in order. They were immediately authorized to go check on Albus, who was being maintained in a little room with the air conditioner on warm, covered by many, many blankets, receiving some type of serum and being checked by a doctor. Aberforth was standing just next to the bed, and as the other two walked inside, the doctor nodded and stepped back.

"Nothing stopped working, his limbs are in perfect health, we do not have serious complications. I would advise to keep an eye on him for any signs of pneumonia, and make sure he is one hundred percent better before he goes back to work, which might take a couple of days" he said, writing something down on a little file. "As soon as his temperature goes back to normal, he can go home. He might get a flu, and he may be moody for the next hours, even after he sleeps."

"He will be fine, right?" Ariana asked, surprising the doctor, that hadn't seen her and Gellert walking inside. He nodded, and then smiled.

"Don't worry. He will be perfectly fine" he assured and turned to Aberforth. "I will leave now. In a few hours a nurse will come to check his temperature. As soon as it is normal, he will be allowed to leave. Take care."

He left the room, leaving the three of them alone with a sleeping Albus. Ariana was quick to move, running around the bed and looking over Albus from the other side. She caressed his head before hugging his shoulders and sighing.

"He is the most brilliant mind at this town but he can be so stupid sometimes" she mumbled, and Aberforth chuckled, walking to stand next to her.

"That's the downside of being smart. You also get dumb" he said, ruffling her hair fondly and then looking up at Grindelwald, who had his eyes focused on Albus' sleeping face. "Thank you for bringing my sister, Elza."

Gellert blinked slowly and turned his face to Aberforth, tilting his head.

"You're welcome, Ariel."

"Oh gosh" Ariana groaned against Albus' shoulder, lifting her head and staring between the two. "Could you stop please? Specially you Aberforth, you sound like you are five."

"Wh-I-"

"Don't try to justify yourself" she said, poking his nose with her finger and sighing. "Thank you Gellert."

"You're welcome Ariana" he answered politely and smiled ever so kindly to her. "Also don't worry about your brother. It's a coping mechanism."

"No it's not!" Aberforth said, offended, and Grindelwald raised his eyebrow.

"Yes it is. You don't know how to deal with the feelings of your brother getting himself popsicled for whatever fight you two had so you need to distract yourself by making fun of someone that has nothing to do with your problems to make yourself feel better" he said, calmly, and tilted his head. "It is a very common coping mechanism."

Ariana and Aberforth stayed quiet for a moment before he growled, angry.

"You will see the coping mechanism when I punch your face with it."

"That is yet another way of coping. You know I am correct, however you do not want to admit your weaknesses, so you are threatening me with violence to see if I will shut up" Gellert said yet again, making Aberforth even angrier. "Usually such threats are worthless, specially in an environment such as this, but I am capable of believing that you are so emotionally unstable that you will actually walk up to me and punch my face, despite knowing that it will result in you getting thrown out of the hospital."

"Gellert, stop it!" Ariana said, loudly, and held Aberforth's hand tightly. "You're being mean! Aberforth didn't do anything bad enough for you to treat him like that!"

"I am just stating facts" Grindelwald replied, raising an eyebrow while Aberforth huffed through his nose and looked down, trying to calm himself down. Getting into a fight in the hospital would not result well to anyone.

"That… is a coping… mechanism" a soft voice made its way through the silence, and Ariana gasped, looking down at Albus, who seemed to be waking up. Aberforth and Gellert looked at him as well, both as surprised as the youngest Dumbledore. He blinked his eyes open slowly, and groaned, head turning to the side to look at Gellert. "You… outsmart people… when you feel threatened… so you can justify… people's… hatred over your… self…"

"Albus!" Ariana squealed, not paying attention to a single word he had said, before pulling him for a tight hug and making him groan again. "Albus you're awake! You are fine! I was so worried!"

"hey Ari" he mumbled, happily, and groaned when he tried to move his hand. "I feel sore all over…"

"Because you are still frozen, brother" Aberforth chuckled, looking over Ariana's shoulder and smiling at Albus. "Welcome back. You will be better very soon. Then we will go home."

"Hoooooome" Albus whined, his voice deep and weak. "I want to go home…"

"We will take you home soon" Ariana assured, kissing his forehead and sighing happily. "Oh I'm so happy you're okay. Albus please don't scare us like that again."

"I… won't" he promised, while Aberforth looked up to see that Grindelwald had vanished. He looked back at Ariana and Albus, checking if they were fine before he stepped away and walked out to the hallway, checking for the blond.

He saw him by the end of the hallway, walking away towards the exit.

"Grindelwald! Wait up!" he called, running to him, and the older boy stopped in his tracks, but did not turn around. "Where are you going?"

"Home" he said, shrugging, and turned to face Aberforth, face expressionless. The middle Dumbledore furrowed his eyebrows.

"Just like that? Without saying goodbye to Ari or Albus?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and making Grindelwald roll his eyes.

"What is this about? You don't want me near them, why would you care?" he asked, coldly, and Aberforth sighed deeply, letting his hands fall to his sides.

"Alright listen" he said, looking around before nodding. "What you said in there? Truth. Okay? I am a mess" he admitted, frowning. "And what you just said? Yes, I hate you and I don't want you close to my siblings. And you know why?"

"Why?" he asked, already done with that conversation. Aberforth took a deep breath and looked right into his eyes.

"Because I know you are trying to get it on with my brother, and you are not good enough for him."

Grindelwald's expression changed to a confused one, and he chuckled, shaking his head.

"I don't want anything with your brother."

"Sure thing. That's why you always look at him like you're undressing him in your mind" Aberforth said, coldly, and tilted his head when Grindelwald looked away, crossing his own arms. "Don't be defensive around me Grindelwald. I am seventeen, I know exactly what you're doing because I do it all the time with the girls at my school. And yes, I hate you because I don't want you close to my brother. Because you're sketchy, because we have met in the worst way possible, and because I only know you for two days. But my problem is that Ariana and Albus seem to like you. So we have a blockage there."

"You can't push me away because they like me, yes" Grindelwald nodded, looking at him again and raising an eyebrow. "So what will you do? Fight me off?"

"No, we are going to compromise" Aberforth said, raising one hand for a handshake. "We will pretend these last two days never happened and start again. We will shake hands, erase yesterday and the day before, and maybe you will have a chance of convincing me that you can stick around my family."

"Isn't this the older brother's role you're playing?" Grindelwald asked, uncrossing his arms and looking between Aberforth's eyes and hand. Aberforth shrugged at the question.

"That's what a middle child has to do when they have a stupid older brother like I do."

"… fine" Grindelwald nodded and took his hand, shaking it firmly. "Let's erase these last two days and begin again, Dumbledore."

"Good thinking, Grindelwald" he said, and then they let go of each other's hands. "Now, you can go home but leave your phone number with me. I will call you when Albus is allowed to leave so you can come with the car and take us home."

"How… do you know I came by car?" Grindelwald asked, confused, and Aberforth smirked, handing him his phone.

"Just write down your number."

Gellert rolled his eyes and grabbed the phone, writing it down and handing it back to Aberforth.

"I come when you call."

"Deal."


	13. Going Home

A few hours later, and Albus was finally allowed to leave. Just like they had agreed, Aberforth called Gellert to come get them with the car, and he did, stopping the car in front of the hospital and waiting until the three Dumbledores were inside. Aberforth sat in the front seat with Ariana and Albus made their way to the back, the eldest Dumbledore grumbling the whole way about how tired he was and how cold everything seemed. Gellert turned on the car's heater and waited until Albus was comfortably laying down on Ariana's lap, curled up like a child over the back seat.

Only then he drove off to the Dumbledore residence.

"What did the doctors say?" he asked, looking over at Ariana through the little mirror, and she sighed, slowly brushing her brother's hair.

"He said Albus needs to stay at least two days at home. And if he develops anything, we should take him back to the hospital and then another three to five days in bed" she mumbled and frowned. "He will get so angry."

"Well, we can't do anything. It was his fault" Aberforth said, looking down at his phone and looking for a number. "I guess I will have to warn his manager and McGonagall..."

"You better" Ariana agreed, pulling Albus closer when he started to lean towards the edge of the seat. "At least like this they will know why he's absent. But like, make up something, don't tell them he stupidly stayed out in the snow okay?"

"Of course, sis, do you think I'm stupid?" he huffed and called the manager first, frowning as it rang. When he accepted the call, Aberforth closed his eyes. "Oh hello mister Harold, it's Aberforth, Albus' brother. Yeah, I know he didn't show up, I'm with him- no, no he hasn't- sir- just... oh god... sir listen, he got a severe cold. We took him to the doctors, we don't know exactly how it happened, all we know is that he is sick. Very sick. He won't be able to go back to work for another week. Uhm. Yes. Yes I am aware. I am also aware that you haven't given him any vacations during these two years he has been working with you and that goes against the law. Yes. I will get the medical leave if you want. Sure yeah whatever. Hm. Al- alright. Alright. Goodbye" he hang up and groaned loudly, rubbing his face. "I... hate this guy."

"Is there anyone you actually like?" Gellert asked, curiously, with a hidden laugh in his words, and Aberforth raised an eyebrow, looking at him.

"Don't piss me off Grindelwald. I just made a compromise with you."

"Abe, call Minerva" Ariana reminded him, frowning at the two. Aberforth nodded and dialed another number, sighing and looking out of the window.

"Hello? Hello? Oh McGonagall? Hey, Aberforth here. Albus' brother. Oh yeah we found him, don't worry. He is... actually he is sick. We don't know exactly what happened but he is sick and the doctors said he should stay home for a week or so... can you talk to the school's headmaster? Yeah... I will get him a medical leave, I just need you to warn the headmaster before- oh yeah sure. Sure sure no problem. I will send it to you when I get home. No problem. Oh thank you! Thanks McGonagall! Have a great day" he hang up, and chuckled. "She's nice."

"You have had a crush on her for five years Aberforth."

"Regardless!"

"So, is she a teacher at Albus' school?" Gellert asked, curiously, and both siblings looked at each other, remembering how Albus didn't want Gellert to know about the school. They stayed quiet for a moment, before Ariana shook her head.

"No! In fact she is... one of his classmates! She's very nice, McGonagall! A true friend of Albus!"

"He doesn't look like someone that has many friends" Gellert said, honestly, and turned to the street leading to their house. Aberforth shrugged, leaning back against the seat.

"having friends is not a family business" he mocked, smirking to himself. "I barely have any. Albus actually has a little more than I do, considering his co-workers. And there is the guy from his school... but he has been gone for over an year now."

"Elphias?" Ariana asked, and Aberforth nodded. "Gosh, it has been an year already?! Time flies..."

"Who is Elphias?" Gellert asked, curious, and Aberforth shrugged.

"A guy Albus was friends with. Like, real close friends. He was always very nice, but after school was over he left to a trip around Europe or whatever. He hasn't returned since, but sometimes he sent Albus messages, emails and even letters. I haven't heard of him for over a month..."

"Me neither. I don't think Albus has, or else he would have told us" Ariana agreed, and smiled. "I miss Elphy. He was always so nice to me."

"truly a gentleman, that guy" Aberforth said, tiling his head. "I wonder if he ever thinks of returning to Godric's Hollow... But then again, after seeing the whole world, who would want to come back to this little village?"

"He would. I bet he is counting the days to see his best friend again" Ariana said, grinning wide and looking down at the sleeping Albus on her lap. Aberforth chuckled and looked over at Gellert, who was awfully quiet. When he did, he knew exactly what his lack of expression meant.

It made him smirk in amusement.

"We are here" Gellert said, parking the car in front of their house and nodded. "Do you need any help taking him in?"

"Nah, we are good" Ariana assured, shaking Albus until he woke up. "Sleeping beauty, we are home" she sang softly and kissed his forehead. He grumbled and shook his head, nuzzling against her again. "Albus... you need to get up."

"Noooo" he whined, and she giggled, before Aberforth opened the door and gently pulled Albus by the waist.

"Come on, you gotta get inside" he said, pulling Albus and making him groan before he opened his eyes and pulled himself up, leaning against Aberforth. "God damn it, did they give any sleeping meds?"

"He stayed awake the whole night you dummy" Ariana said, getting out and rushing to the door to open it up. "Come on, get him inside!"

"I am trying" Aberforth growled, holding Albus' waist and leading him to the door. Slowly, Albus seemed to be waking up, yawning loudly and walking by himself for a while, getting up the stairs to the house and heading straight to the couch. Aberforth let go of him and he curled up, nuzzling onto a pillow and immediately falling asleep. "I'm not taking him upstairs."

"Do you want me to?" Gellert asked, walking inside slowly and letting his eyes wonder around the house. Ariana smiled, amused, while Aberforth shook his head.

"No way you're touching my asleep brother, you creep" he said, crossing his arms. "You did what you had to, you can go now."

"God damn it Aberforth you're so rude" Ariana huffed and smiled at Gellert. "Thank you for your help. Want some tea? Some coffee?"

"I would accept some coffee, please" he admitted, nodding and slowly sitting down on the chair. Aberforth huffed and sat on the couch next to Albus, watching him for a minute or two before sighing.

"Why is he so insane?" he mumbled, shaking his head. Gellert shrugged.

"I'm sure it made sense in his mind. How, I do not know" he said, looking around and seeing a book on the side of the chair. He picked it up and studied it, before opening it up. "I thought he said he wasn't learning Gaelic."

"What?" Aberforth asked, looking up, and Gellert showed him the book.

"Ancient Gaelic. It was stuffed on the side of the chair" he said, slowly moving through the pages. "This is some interesting stuff... how to read the symbols, phonetics... even some ancient stories."

"Yeah, language is not up my alley" Aberforth mumbled, looking back at Albus and ignoring Gellert for a while. Gellert kept reading it, until Ariana came with the coffee. Then, he put the book away and picked the mug with a smile.

"Thank you."

"you're welcome. It is the least I could do for your help" she said, sitting next to Aberforth and looking at Albus. "Still asleep?"

"I think he will sleep throughout the whole day today" Abe mumbled and sighed. "he will wake up hungry. Very hungry."

"My aunt asked if she could make some food for you guys while Albus is getting back on his feet" Gellert said, sipping on his coffee. "She said that your classes are about to start, Ariana. That you won't have time to cook as much."

"Oh... yeah, they begin in two days" she frowned and then smiled. "Please tell her that she can make us some things, if she wants!"

"I will be sure to tell her that" he nodded and continued to drink his coffee in silence. The three of them stayed quiet for a while, looking over at Albus, who seemed to be having the sleep of his life. Ariana eventually stood up to pick some blankets and put over him, while Aberforth grabbed some pieces of wood outside and lit up the fireplace. Gellert just stayed around, since he had nothing to do and he wasn't asked to leave. The skies began to become darker, and eventually, night fell over them.

That was when he felt like he had overstayed his welcome, and left with a few goodbyes, going back to his house and making sure they knew they could call if they needed anything.


	14. Secrets

Keeping Albus on the bed while he was sleepy and tired was a breeze. Easier than stealing candy from a child. They checked his temperature, made sure he was quiet, and fed him some soup sometimes while he tried not to fall asleep.

However, in the next day, when he woke up feeling better, keeping him at home was a pain.

"Aberforth, Ariana, for the last time, I feel fine" he said, trying to go through the two teens that kept blocking his way downstairs with their bodies. "Get out of my way, I need to work!"

"Albus, the doctor said at least two days of resting" Ariana said, frowning and jumping to the side as he tried to walk past her.

"And besides, I've already called your work! I told them you would be out for a week!" Aberforth insisted, pushing Albus back into the room. "You are staying and doing exactly what the doctor said."

"You two are impossible!" Albus groaned, looking between the two of them angrily. "Don't you know they discount your vacation from your pay check? If I stay home for a week, it is a week less of money for us!"

"No, because it is not vacation, it is a medical leave approved by the hospital! I even told Grindelwald to go pick up the paper" Aberforth said, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. "You're not going anywhere Albus Dumbledore!"

"Okay, listen" Albus said, rolling his eyes. "This little game of you two taking care of me was fun and all, but now I feel perfectly fine. Therefore, I do not need to be taken care of anymore. Asides from that, I am older than you, I am your guardian, and therefore I can tell you two to get out of my way and allow me to work."

"Why do you always use this argument against us?" Aberforth asked, frustrated, and then shook his head. "I don't care about that, you're my brother, you are sick and you are staying inside."

"Aberforth, I can't lose a week of money!"

"You should have thought about that before staying the whole night out in the cold!"

"I am fine Aberforth, there is not reason to keep holding me here!"

"You might get a flu. Pneumonia. The doctor told us to keep you inside for two days and then check how you are feeling. So you are staying here, no matter what you say. It's final" Aberforth said, firmly, and Albus took a deep breath, rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses.

"Abe…"

"You have to rest a little Albus! Yesterday you slept so much, you seemed so tired" Ariana said, frowning sadly, and Albus sighed deeply.

"Guys, if I don't go for a week, we don't have enough money to pay the bills by the end of the month" he tried to explain, again, and Ariana shook her head.

"Don't you have some money saved? We can take part of it and use it to pay what we can't because of this week."

"Yes. See? Simple" Aberforth agreed, but Albus looked at them, shaking his head.

"No, that money is not for that…"

"isn't it for emergencies? This is an emergency!" Ariana said, loudly and firmly. Albus shook his head.

"No… not this type of emergency, I can go to work-"

"All emergencies are emergencies Albus" Aberforth insisted, but Albus kept shaking his head.

"No, that's not what it is for…"

"Albus, it is! You are an emergency!"

"Ariana, please, I can-"

"It is settled! That money goes for this week's rest!"

"That not what the money is for!" Albus yelled, suddenly, and the younger siblings stepped back, surprised at his outburst. He groaned, rubbing his face and sighing. "Sorry… sorry… I'm… still a little confused but just… we are not using that money to cover our spences okay?"

"Why not?" Aberforth asked, suspicious. "you said you had been saving it for some type of emergency and now that we have one, you don't want to spend it."

"Albus what is the money for?" Ariana asked, confused and curious at the same time, but Albus didn't look at them. He shook his head and walked past them, rushing downstairs and towards the exit door.

Aberforth and Ariana stood back, looking between the empty hallway and each other, with a simple question inside their minds:

What was the money really for?

Albus was too distracted to see where he was going. Trying to put his jacket on while also checking texts and texting someone all at the same time took off his attention for what was in front of him.

So when he lost his footing in one of the steps to the house, he was sure for a split second in his mind that he was going to fall face first in the snowy ground.

That did not happen, however.

"Holy shit Albus!" Gellert groaned as he held his waist in most awkward position to ever exist, pulling him up and allowing him to get his balance back. "You almost squished me into the ground, look at where you're going!"

"Gellert I'm so sorry" he mumbled nervously, pushing his phone inside his pocket and checking the boy in front of him. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?!"

"No, you didn't. Don't worry about it" he assured, and then furrowed his eyebrows confused. "What are you doing out here? Weren't you supposed to stay inside for two days?"

"I could ask you the same question. Why are you outside of my house at this time in the morning?" Albus asked, raising his eyebrow. Gellert chuckled and nodded.

"You got me" he said, moving closer, and only then Albus realized that Gellert's arms were still around his waist, not only holding it but pulling him closer, their chest already touching. "Maybe I just wanted to visit…"

"I…" Albus felt a knot inside his throat, his own hands resting over Gellert's arms from when he had checked if he was fine, his whole body reacting to that proximity in very different ways. His cheeks warmed up, his stomach turned and he felt breathless. "I was… going… I…"

"You?" Gellert whispered, eyes moving down Albus' face and returning to his eyes as he tilted his head. Without realizing, Albus was arching his back to get away from Gellert, nerves driving him crazy.

Gellert was so close, and he looked so into it, and everything was so warm and the air seemed inexistent at that moment.

"I need to go" he breathed out, pushing Gellert away and walking past him. As he did, Gellert held his wrist and pulled him back.

"Where?"

"To work."

"You should stay at home and rest."

"I need the money. I can't afford losing a week."

"Yes you can, get inside."

"No" Albus looked back at him and pulled his hand away, shaking his head. "I need to go."

And he walked away, as fast as he could without showing off how much he actually wanted to _run_ away, his heart beating faster than it ever had, his body still shaking from how close he had been with Gellert.

He didn't even want to know why Gellert was there.

No.

He just needed to get away.

"I have a quest for you."

Gellert looked up from his coffee, raising his eyebrow at Aberforth as the boy stood in front of him, arms crossed. Ariana sighed, shaking her head as she separated the frozen soup Bathilda had made them and that Gellert had brought over.

"What quest?" he asked curiously, and Ariana looked at Aberforth.

"Don't. We should just forget it" she warned, taking some soups and heading to the kitchen. Aberforth rolled his eyes and walked closer to Gellert, sitting on the table in front of him.

"My brother has some savings in the bank" he said, and Gellert looked at him, even more curious. "He said it was for emergencies but today, when we told him to use that money to pay for his week off, he denied it. He got actually quite defensive over it. Which made us wonder… if the money really is for emergencies."

"You want me to find out why your brother is saving money?" Gellert asked, chuckling and sipping on his coffee. "I can give you at least five good reasons as to why he would keep money in the bank and wouldn't want to spend it for something as silly as this."

"I don't want reasons I want facts" Aberforth said, pointing to Gellert. "He won't tell us, but maybe he will tell you. I want to know if there is something that he is doing that he isn't telling us."

"Do you think it's something bad?" Gellert asked, and Ariana returned, frowning.

"Albus would never do anything bad, nor hide anything from us. He must have a good motive behind not wanting to use the money. Maybe we were being a little too extreme."

"No, he is hiding something" Aberforth said, furrowing his eyebrows. "I know because of what he said. He didn't say 'we don't have to use it', he didn't say 'we shouldn't because we can't cover it up later', he didn't say 'I would rather not use it to hold for a bigger emergency'. He said 'the money is not for that'. Which means, by definition, that he has an end for that money that he hasn't told us. Or do you really think he would keep it a secret if it was something for my college or your education Ari?"

Ariana blinked slowly, and looked down at the frozen soup before she frowned and looked back at Aberforth.

"You are going to find the answer to that… and you're not going to like it Aberforth" she said, coldly, and picked up some more soup. "Somethings are better left not known. You will regret doing this to Albus."

She walked away after that and Aberforth rolled his eyes, turning back to Gellert.

"Find out what the money is for, and I won't annoy you anymore" he said, and Gellert smirked, lifting his coffee mug.

"Consider it done, little Dumbledore."

"Don't call me that."

"Abe?"

"No."

"Little one?"

"I hate you already."


	15. The New Teacher

On that day, Albus had had a fight with Minerva about how he should stay at home, his manager at the market requested him to work double shift in a Saturday to make up for the lost day, and he came home extremely tired, barely eating anything before going straight to bed. Ariana and Aberforth almost killed him, insisting that he should stay at home at least a few days, but Albus insisted that he was fine, that it was only a little headache and that he would be perfectly fine when he woke up.

In the next day, he left again to work, feeling even more tired than the day before but keeping his complaining to himself. Aberforth left to school very much against his wishes, and Ariana stayed at home, waiting for none other than her new homeschooling teacher.

The old one had left to somewhere else in Europe, and because of that, Aberforth spent his winter vacation looking for a new teacher for Ariana. Eventually he found a girl that could come every day in the morning, around eight up until noon, to teach Ariana everything she needed to know. He had already talked to her through phone, and now, it was finally time to meet her.

She was nineteen, she studied somewhere close enough to Godric's Hollow, and she was majoring in math because she wanted to be a full-time teacher, so it was also a great training for herself. Usually they wouldn't hire anyone not majored, but she was the only good option available that wasn't a man, so they had to do with what they had.

Ariana was waiting around the living room for when she arrived, pushing her dress down and fixing her hair out of pure nervousness.

When the doorbell rang, she jumped and ran to open it, looking through the little hole before unlocking the door and smiling.

"Hello!"

"Hello, Ariana?" the girl asked, tilting her head, and she nodded, excitedly. "Hi! My name is Chris, I will be your homeschooling teacher for the rest of the year."

"I know! Come inside!" Ariana responded, opening the door and allowing her to come in. She closed the door behind the girl and walked close to her again. "Do you want anything? Water, tea, coffee?"

"I am fine, thank you" Chris assured, and looked around the living room. "Where will we be studying?"

"In the kitchen. We don't have a dining table" Ariana explained, nodding for her to follow and taking Chris inside. "Excuse me from asking but... where are you from? Your accent is not from around England, is it?"

"Oh no it's not" she chuckled, reaching the kitchen and sitting down. Ariana sat in front of her. "My accent is American because I studied English in an American school."

"I didn't know there were American schools in England" Ariana said, confused, and Chris laughed to herself, shaking her head.

"I'm Brazilian" she explained, tilting her head. "I studied in an American school in Brazil."

"You… are from Brazil?" Ariana asked, surprised, and Chris nodded. "Your English is perfect!"

"Yes, I studied a lot" she chuckled. "And I've been living here in England for… three years now? Yes. Three years."

"That's so amazing" Ariana mumbled and moved closer. "Are you going to teach me Brazil's history?"

"I… if you want me to, sure, but it is not in the English schedule of classes" she warned, but Ariana shrugged and smiled widely.

"I love learning about all places. You can skip something boring and teach me a little bit about your country" she assured, and Chris chuckled, nodding slowly.

"Sure, sure" she agreed and put her bag over the table, getting out some notebooks, thick books and school materials. "But today we won't be learning anything. I will just use this day so we can get to know each other. I will show you my teaching methods, tell you what we will be studying throughout the whole year, and ask if you want to study anything else. Is that okay?"

"That is more than okay" Ariana assured, pleased. "Please teach me."

"I will" Chris said, winking at her. "Don't worry."

Ariana was pretty sure she was going to love studying with Chris.

"Ari I'm home!" Aberforth called, putting his coat to the side and throwing his backpack on the floor while he walked forward towards the kitchen, phone in hand. "How was your first class?"

"It was great!"

"Your little sister is a remarkable student."

The second voice surprised him, and he looked up from his phone, just to have the world slowing down and his heart jump to his throat.

"Aberforth, this is Chris. Chris, this is my older brother Aberforth" Ariana said, standing between the two, and she smiled, raising her hand for a shake.

"Hello Aberforth. Your sister told me a lot about you."

"I… hm…" he mumbled, confused, and then shook his head, taking her hand on his and shaking it with a smile. "Oh hi s-sorry, name's Aberforth. You know that. Ari told you."

"yes she did" Chris giggled and shook his hand before pulling her hand away and holding her books close to her chest. "We used today's class to get to know each other better, and beginning on Monday we will be studying all types of subjects. I promise your sister will not be left behind by the system."

"I doubt that, I doubt she ever would with a teacher like you" he said, before his eyes widened and he raised his hands. "I did not mean to say that, it sounded so weird, I'm sorry!"

"It's fine" she giggled and nodded. "I gotta go now but… it was nice meeting you. Ariana, see you Monday."

"See you!" Ariana said, walking with her to the door and closing it behind her. Then, she very slowly turned to Aberforth with a smirk that went ear to ear, and he immediately shook his head.

"No, don't think about it."

"You like her."

"No!" Aberforth growled and rubbed his eyes. "you always think I like people I find attractive!"

"So you find her attractive" Ariana said, walking to him and poking his arm, making him groan loudly.

"Ariana, quit it okay? She is your teacher, I don't find her attractive, and I don't like her" he huffed, walking to the kitchen and being closely followed by the youngest Dumbledore.

"She's smart you know?" she asked, looking over his shoulder and then standing around where he was. "She knows math, she loves it in fact. And history. She's pretty. Albus would like her."

"Why are you making it sound like I need his approval?" Aberforth asked, raising his eyebrow to her before walking past her to get to the fridge. "First, I don't want her, second, I don't need Albus' approval, and third, you're making me sound like I should marry her."

"Maybe you should."

"You're mad Ari" he chuckled and grabbed the soda from the fridge, closing it and turning around, just to have Ariana extremely close to him, making him step back against the fridge.

"You should settle down."

"What?! Ari, I'm seventeen, not seventy" Aberforth huffed, and shook his head. "You're crazy, I don't like her!"

"You found her pretty."

"So what?"

"that's close enough. Soon you will like her."

"Ariana, don't play cupid around me" Abe said, walking away from her. "I know exactly how to get whoever I want."

Ariana stood in the kitchen as Aberforth walked to the living room, making up a plan in her head and smiling to herself.

He liked Chris.

Albus came home around eight, looking dead tired. He sighed as he stepped inside the house, walking straight to the couch and sitting down. Aberforth and Ariana, who were watching a movie in the living room, looked at him and raised their eyebrows.

"You should rest" Aberforth mumbled, sipping onto his soda as Ariana sighed.

"You look tired."

"I am dead" Albus mumbled, sighing and laying down on the big couch. "I feel dead inside and outside."

"You look dead outside."

"Aberforth!" Ariana sighed and looked at Albus with a light frown. "Are you sure you can't rest tomorrow? It's Saturday, maybe they can give you the day off."

"Actually… I will have to work two shifts in the supermarket tomorrow because of my missing day" he mumbled, hugging the closest pillow and digging his face against it. Both Ariana and Aberforth looked at him before the middle Dumbledore huffed angrily.

"I hate your manager" he mumbled and Albus nodded.

"me too" he mumbled and looked up, laying his head on the pillow and smiling at Ariana. "So. How was your first day of class?"

"Great" she admitted, smiling widely. "I loved it. Chris is great. She is so intelligent and calm and funny! And I wasn't the only one who enjoyed it" she winked, poking Aberforth's side and making him growl.

"I don't like her" he huffed and Albus raised his eyebrow.

"Abe likes her?"

"NO!"

"You should have seen his face when he saw her" Ariana said, smiling widely. Aberforth groaned and let his head fall back against the couch.

"I don't deserve this."

"Aberforth" Albus said, and he looked down, annoyed. "is she good looking?"

"Well yes, she is very pretty" Aberforth said, shrugging, and Albus gasped while Ariana squealed and jumped on the couch, making him even more confused. "What?"

"Oh my god you love her" Albus whispered, making him groan loudly and pick up the nearest pillow, throwing it on Albus.

"I don't love her! I don't even know her! What the hell are you talking about?!"

"I'm totally making a plan so they end up together" Ariana said, firmly, and Albus chuckled as he put the pillow Aberforth threw on him against his back.

"God damn it Ariana I don't want to be with her! I don't know her!"

"Are you playing cupid again Ari?" Albus asked, amused, tilting his head. "Do you think it will work? You know how Abe is…"

"What does that mean?!"

"I am pretty sure it will" Ariana assured, smiling at Aberforth and poking his arm. "She is pretty, nice, sweet, intelligent. Perfect for Abe."

"I swear to god" Aberforth growled and stood up. "you know what? I'm off."

"Off where?" Albus asked, sitting up slowly, and Aberforth huffed.

"On a date. NOT with Chris, mind you" he smirked, putting his soda over the table in the living room and looking around for his jacket. "Because I have many, many dates with many, many girls and I will not be stopped."

"You should get a girlfriend Abe" Albus said, leaning against the back of the couch. "you know, to learn the importance of a relationship…"

"Bullshit. Relationships demand work and I don't have time or patience for that" he chuckled and grabbed his jacket from the hanger.

"So I'll be alone tomorrow?" Ariana asked, frowning, and Aberforth turned around confused.

"Why?"

"Albus will go early to the market and you're off on a date" she said, simply, and Aberforth hummed.

"Don't worry, I will make sure to return until ten in the morning. Is that okay?"

"Sure."

"Aberforth" Albus called again, and he rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"Do you have money?"

"Yes."

"Do you want some more?"

"No, I'm good Alb."

"Okay. Are you taking precautions?"

Aberforth blinked slowly, and turned to him as he sat up.

"What?"

"Are you taking any condoms with you?"

"Oh my god" Ariana mumbled, hugging a pillow and holding back her laugh. Aberforth stared at Albus for a long time, confused out of his mind, before he shook his head in distress.

"Albus, what is this question?"

"I just want to be sure" Albus shrugged, and Aberforth closed his eyes, shaking his head even faster.

"No way I'm living this nightmare…"

"Aberforth, it is important. I know we all love babies but we can't afford another Dumbledore in this house" Albus said, calm and serious, while Ariana was becoming red by holding back her laugher. Aberforth just looked distressed. "Besides, I am your guardian and I haven't talked about the birds and the bees with you yet, so-"

"No, no no" Aberforth said, quickly. "Don't even begin. Don't start, don't open your mouth, just shut up. Shut up."

"But Aberforth-"

"I've had sex more times you can count on your fingers Albus, I do not need you teaching me anything" he assured, shaking his head and walking to grab his wallet. Ariana giggled softly and looked between the two.

"Specially from you Alb. Everything you know is from the internet anyway" she said, trying to control her giggles as she put the pillow down. Albus' head turned to her immediately, while Aberforth stopped what he was doing and turned his own head slowly.

"What?" he said, and Albus shook his head.

"N-nothing!"

"I can't… fucking… believe this" Aberforth whispered, snorting and covering his mouth with his hand, while Ariana looked at him curiously.

"No, Aberforth, that is not-" Albus tried, but Aberforth was shaking with a silent laugh, just before he let his hand go and started to desperately laugh around the house, hugging his stomach. "Aberforth!"

"You didn't know?" Ariana asked, giggling of Aberforth's reaction. "He doesn't complain about it to you?"

"Ariana! Be quiet!"

"HOLY SHIT!" Aberforth yelled, leaning against the wall as he laughed, Albus turning as red as a tomato. "I can't fucking believe this, you were trying to give me a lesson but you're a v-"

"Don't finish this sentence Aberforth" Albus said, firmly, but he had a smile on his face. "shut up."

"Ari, I think Albus is in need of a cupid before I am" Aberforth said when he was finally able to hold back his laughing, smirking at his older brother and then taking out the condom from his wallet. "There. Satisfied Alby?"

"Don't call me Alby" Albus mumbled, shaking his head and smiling to himself. "Sure, have fun. Be careful. Don't drink too much."

"Sure thing. Love you sis, love you bro, I'm going now" he said, shaking his head and making his way to the door. "God fucking damn it…"

"Well that was… fun" Ariana said, smiling to Albus as he sighed and shook his head.

"He will never let me forget about this."

"No he won't" she giggled and jumped off the couch, jumping next to Albus and leaning against him. He smiled at her, fixing his glasses and then sliding his fingers through her long hair. "In any case, Chris was nice."

"Are you really going to try to make them like each other?" Albus asked, looking down at her, and she looked back up, smiling wide.

"Yes. And… I have someone in my mind for you too."

Albus looked at her surprised and then chuckled, shaking his head and relaxing against the couch.

"I don't like anyone Ari. And you don't have to worry about me, it would probably be in vain anyway."

"Albus, I doubt that you don't fancy anyone" she said, holding his free hand. "You know you can talk to me about it, right? If you ever like someone?"

"I know Ari, I just… don't like anyone" he shrugged, pulling her closer gently. "Simple. I never liked anyone, I don't like anyone and I never will like anyone. That's how I am."

"People like that exist but you are not one of them Albus" she mumbled, laying on his chest and closing her eyes. "There is someone out there for you. I know there is. Just like there is someone out there for me."

"But who wouldn't like you, Ari?"

"Albus, this conversation is about you."

"Okay, okay… hey, can I eat dinner?"

"Sure, we have Bathilda's soup left."

"Nice." 


	16. Cosmopolitan

Of course that something in the date was going to get wrong after that whole conversation with Albus and Ariana.

Aberforth made his way to the little pub where he would meet his date and go home, getting inside and greeting the barman before finding a spot by the bar and sitting down, asking for a beer. The pub was full, as it usually was in a Friday evening, with some lads drunkenly watching a football game and screaming out of their lungs when someone did a good pass. There were some families there, some people Aberforth knew, and some lonesome lads and lasses that were just enjoying a nice drink or maybe looking around for a good night.

He was waiting for a girl and some of his friends, but as he turned around with a known movement of the chair next to him, he found himself staring right into Ariana's teacher's face.

And she smiled at him.

"Aberforth" she said, turning to face him and crossing her legs. She was not wearing the same clothes from earlier. She now wore a pink crop top that said 'rosy skies ahead' in a floral pattern, and some high waisted black jeans that went all the way down to her fancy boots. "What a surprise to find you here."

"It is such a coincidence" he admitted, turning to her and smiling, although he felt his heart jumping up to his throat for some reason. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"I do, but I was going to offer you just that" she said, winking at him and making Aberforth chuckle.

"Oh come on, I will pay" he said, but she shook her head and lifted her hand.

"None of that" Chris said, firmly. "I will pay. What do you want?"

"I... I will take a cosmopolitan" he said, as soon as he remembered the name of some fancy type of drink. Chris looked at him surprised before giggling.

"Wow, you got the guts" she said, waving to the bartender. "Please sir, a cosmopolitan for my friend and a strawberry margarita for me."

The man nodded and turned away to do the drinks as she looked back at Aberforth. He looked back at her and smiled, and she smiled right back, none of them saying anything until the drinks arrived.

When they did, Aberforth made a face at his own.

"This stuff is grey" he mumbled, almost whining, showing her and making Chris laugh lightly at his reaction.

"Well yes, it is a cosmopolitan" she said, tilting her head. "It is basically city trash."

"I don't want to drink city trash."

"Do you want to drink my margarita instead?"

Aberforth looked at her, and Chris pushed her margarita close to him. He thought for a second too long and Chris took the cosmopolitan from him, taking a sip and making a face.

"Is it that bad?" he asked, feeling bad for making her drink it, and she nodded, putting her tongue out and making a 'blerg' sound.

"Oh god its horrible" she mumbled and shook her head. "Oh I want some water, gosh this taste is terrible!"

"S-sorry I will get one for you" Aberforth said, feeling even worst, but she looked at him and laughed at his concerned face.

"Aberforth I'm fine!" she giggled, holding his hand and making him sit from where he had stood to call the barman. "I'm fine. Sit down. Drink some of the margarita in my behalf."

"Don't you want some?" he asked, pushing it to her. "Go ahead, drink some. It is yours anyway."

"Nah, I bought it for you" Chris shook her head, pushing the margarita back to him. "You know, I wish they sold caipirinhas here."

"Cai... what?" Aberforth frowned, and she chuckled.

"Caipirinhas. It is a Brazilian drink" she explained, leaning on her hand as she supported her elbow on the bar. "You can do it with sake, vodka, or another Brazilian drink called pinga or cachaça. Basically it is vodka but made of cane sugar instead of potatoes" she explained, looking at him. "It is sweeter, but just as strong. Anyway, to make the caipirinha, you gotta pick up some lemonade made with fresh lemons, not what americans call lemonade, and then you add the fruits you like, and mix it all up in a mixer, and then add some ice. It's very summery."

"Sounds very tropical" Aberforth said, smirking, and she nodded.

"I lived in a tropical country. Blessed by god and all that" she chuckled to herself and shook her head. "Anyway. You should try it whenever. It's really good."

"I shall taste it then. But you would have to make it for me" he winked, and she hummed, tilting her head.

"You never told me what you were doing here" she said, curiously. Aberforth then remembered the reason he was there, and looked over, seeing his friends and his supposed date already inside the pub, walking around and finding a table. Luckily, they hadn't seen him.

"Well" he said, turning back to her "I just like coming here on Fridays. You know, get off some steam."

"Oh" she chuckled and nodded, tilting her head. "that's nice. And what else you do on Fridays?"

"Hm... usually I come to the pub, find a pretty girl, buy her a drink and check my luck" Aberforth said honestly, and smiled at her. "You?"

"I have never been to a pub like this before" Chris admitted, looking around before turning back to him. "But if I did, I would find a handsome boy, buy him a drink and check my luck."

She winked at him, and he felt his cheeks burning, heart racing, and reached for the martini for a sip.

"So, would you like to drink some caipirinhas at my flat?" she asked, acting as if she didn't really mean anything by it, and he almost choked on his drink but held it back and nodded.

"Yes. Yes I would love that."

"Good. Come with me" she nodded, standing up and leaving a few libras back to pay before walking to the backdoor. Aberforth jumped out of his seat and walked after her, following her out to the parking lot and completely ignoring the friends he had left inside the pub.

Eventually they reached her car, and he hoped inside as she nodded for him to do so, smirking as she drove off and taking him to her flat. Aberforth looked at her and then outside to the night in Godric's Hollow, biting his lip as his heart hammered against his chest.

Albus would kill him... and Ari would tease him to death.

But he was being taken to a pretty girl's house, and he was so ready for whatever life was expecting from him.

"Albus, can I ask you something?" Ariana asked, voice soft as the two of them watched TV in the living room, leaning against each other. Albus gave her a quick look and then nodded.

"Of course."

"Have you ever... loved anyone?"

Albus looked at her again, frowning, and slowly sat up, being mimicked by her, both sitting with their legs crossed in front of the other.

"I... no, I don't believe I have" he said, honestly, and tilted his head. "Romantically at least. Why do you ask?"

"I just... wanted to know" she mumbled and pulled her legs closer with her arms hugging them. "I mean... I have never loved anyone. I wonder what that feels like."

"Love has many ways of making itself be felt. That's what I've heard at least" Albus said, smiling at her. "Sometimes is happiness, sometimes is worry, it can even be anger. Love is complicated."

"Do you think anyone will ever be able to love me?"

"Ari..." Albus whispered and moved closer, taking her hands and making her look up at him. "Ari, there is nothing not to love in you. You are wonderful. I bet everyone would love you if you went out there. There would be lines and more lines of people wanting to be with you."

"I don't want lines. I want one" she mumbled and looked down again. "I want someone... but how can I find that someone if I don't go out? If I don't know anyone..."

"Soon you will be able to go out, to have fun, like everyone else" Albus promised, intertwining their fingers. "I promise you. I will get everything sorted out, I will help you, and you will have a normal life, meeting new people that will love you."

"Don't... make promises you can't keep" she mumbled, pulling her hands away and turning to the side with a sigh. "Albus... are you being honest? Have you never, ever, loved anyone?"

"Why do you doubt me Ari?"

"Because you don't talk to us" she stood up, crossing her arms. "Aberforth and I never know what you're thinking... what you're feeling... is it too weird that I feel like you're not honest with us?"

"I am... Ari, I promise..." Albus said, again, standing up, and she sighed, shaking her head.

"Don't make promises you can't keep Albus" she mumbled and turned around, looking at him with a frown. "You know you can tell me anything right? Any secret, anything you're hiding... you can share with me. You know that."

"I do" he whispered, and nodded slowly. "I know it."

"Good" she mumbled and looked to the stairs. "I'm going to sleep. Talk to you later Albus."

"... Goodnight Ari."


	17. Talk about a job

Aberforth came back home at the time he had agreed on. Around ten in the morning, he was walking inside through the door and smiling when he saw Ariana reading one of the many books Chris had left for her to study.

"Morning sis" he called, pulling out his jacket and placing it on the hanger. She hummed, finishing the line before looking up at him and smirking.

"Hey Abe. How was your date?"

"Fine. The usual" he shrugged, smiling at her and walking closer to the couch where she was doing her little reading section. "Slept over, had some good sex, stuff like that."

"Spare me the details Aberforth" she huffed, pulling her legs so he could sit down, and placing them back over his thighs as he sat down. "Did you use protection like Albus told you to?"

"Yikes" he huffed and picked up his phone, checking his messages. As he opened the one with the unknown number, he smiled, seeing Chris' name and a little eggplant following a meme that said 'it me' with a picture of a bird quacking in the distance. He couldn't help but let out a chuckle that made Ariana look at him weird. "Friends. From school."

"Sure" she mumbled and looked back at her book. "So. Who did you meet last night?"

"I was meant to see Diana" he said, without thinking, checking his other social medias. Ariana looked at him again and he stared back at her, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"You were meant to meet her? Then who did you meet?" she asked, confused, and Aberforth felt his heart trying to scape through his throat.

"I was meant to meet her but... like... um, a friend of hers showed up. Alice! Alice. Alice showed up and I decided to go out with her instead."

"... I don't remember you mentioning any Alice" Ariana said, confused and suspicious, and Aberforth chuckled nervously, waving his hand at her.

"That's because I don't tell you about everyone little sis" he said, shrugging it off. "Alice is super cool. And great in bed."

"Again Aberforth, I don't want the details" she huffed and slowly sat up. "But isn't what you did mean to Diana? She was expecting you to show up."

"Diana is fine to deal with" he said, trying to keep this conversation out of topic. "SO tell me what you and Albus did when I wasn't here yesterday. Did you have fun?"

"Yeah" Ariana nodded and put her book away. "I mean we watched movies and talked and ate some soup... but... like... Abe" she said, louder, and he looked at her worriedly. "I'm worried about Alb."

"You... why?" he asked, confused, and she took a deep breath.

"Because Aberforth... I think he is in love and he doesn't realize it" she said, frowning, and Aberforth felt his heart stop in fear. His eyes widened, his hands turned cold and he shook his head.

"No..."

"Aberforth?" she asked, confused, and he shook his head, dramatically.

"No way... you mean..."

"Gellert, yes."

"Oh no no no" Aberforth said, firmly, crossing his arms as Ariana furrowed her eyebrows. "No way. Albus is not in love with that idiot!"

"… Abe I am one hundred percent sure he is into Gellert and Gellert is into him" she said, slowly, and Aberforth groaned loudly, falling back against the couch.

"nooooooo… not him" he whined quietly. "Ari, that guy is… he is awful!"

"Give me one concrete reason as to why you think he is awful" she said, crossing her arms and looking at him with a stern expression on her face. He looked at her and saw the way she was facing him, biting back what he was going to say and then frowning.

"He does not have good vibrations around him."

They looked at each other for a long time, eye to eye, before Ariana snorted and Aberforth frowned, offended.

"What… the hell does that mean Abe?" she giggled, tilting her head and shaking it slowly. "Gosh, you must have drunk something very strong last night, you are not thinking straight."

"Wha- Ari! I am dead serious!" he complained, frowning to her. "Ari, that guy is evil! He reeks meanness! I don't want Albus close to him, it will corrupt him!"

"Oh so now you're defending Albus?" Ariana asked, smirking at him. "You're defending your lovely older brother who is too pure to make decisions on his own?"

"He's not- that's not- not all decisions!" Abe said frustrated and shook his head. "Just not stupid decisions! Like falling in love with that Grindelwald lunatic! Ari, no one just appears out of nowhere and just… enters in your life like that! That guy has something to him, I know it!"

"So Albus should be alone all his life?" Ariana asked, tilting her head, and Aberforth felt a little tug in his heart strings.

"N-no! Of course not" he said, firmly, and frowned. "Didn't he had a crush on Elphias? Why can't he be with Elphias? Or even Minerva? Or someone from his retail work? Why does it have to be the creepy guy that showed up three days ago?"

"Elphias is straight Aberforth" Ariana huffed and looked at her older brother again, frowning. "I feel like he is so lonely Abe… he needs someone. If that someone has to be the creepy guy that showed up three days ago, then be it. I feel so bad, I don't think he even knows what he is feeling. I think he is just… in constant denial, pushing himself to be this perfect guardian… don't you think so? Am I going crazy?"

"Honestly Ari… I think you are projecting" Aberforth said, softly, and she frowned before looking away. "Hey listen, it's fine… I know how hard it is for you. I think you are imagining that he feels like you feel… and that's okay. But you can't confound your feelings with his. Albus is fine. Sure, he gets a little overwhelmed sometimes but… he is okay. He works, he studies, he has us… what else he needs?"

"So you can go and fuck every girl you want and Albus can't love someone? I can't project myself wanting to be with someone?"

Aberforth furrowed his eyebrows, before they raised in surprise as eh saw Ariana's eyes tearing up. Aberforth shook his head, taking her hands on his.

"No Ari, I promise! That was not what I meant, I… I want you and Albus to be happy, to find someone! I just-"

"You just think you know everything we should do" she said, smirking sarcastically at him. "You just think you can control us to do what you think its better for us. No wonder why Albus gets so tired of you."

Aberforth didn't even know how to react. Ariana looked at him with straight up disgust, and stood up, shaking her head. Aberforth stood still, without knowing what to say or how to respond. She turned to the stairs, but before walking away, she looked back at him.

"You can control my life, Abe, but if you think you can control his, you are only going to lose his love" she said, coldly, and turned back to the stairs. "If he likes Gellert, don't interfere. It's not your life."

Then, she left, leaving Aberforth with a heavy heart and a hurt conscience.

"Dumbledore. Lunch break."

Albus looked up from the cashier and nodded to his manager, before turning back and smiling at the old lady that was finishing her groceries. She was having some difficulty getting the products out of the cart, so he offered to help, reaching over the cashier and picking up the products. Then, he passed everything, told her her total and assisted her on how to use the credit card machine.

When they were done, she smiled at him and tapped his cheek.

"You are a great young man! Your family must be proud of having such a gentleman at home!"

Albus looked at her and his expression turned a bit sad, but he smiled and nodded.

"They sure do. Have a good day."

She clearly wasn't from the village.

"Dumbledore. Lunch break" he was called again, turning to his manager and frowning. Nodding, he closed the cashier and removed his apron, before walking to the break room. Inside there were both his and the manager's food, heated up over the table.

He found it weirdly strange, but didn't mind it, sitting down on one of the sides and taking the silverware next to his plate. A salad, fish and chips. Typical English food.

Not much later, his manager (Lukas was his name) sat down in front of him, taking his own silverware and beginning to eat. The silence was a bit awkward at first, but eventually Albus grew used to it.

"So. Dumbledore" Lukas called out, and Albus looked up, continuing to eat but slower now. Lukas never talked to anyone. "You know how in these big companies, your competence doesn't matter much, right? You usually get up in the food chain by knowing people, doing favours, things like that. You get me?"

"… yes, I suppose" Albus answered, confused, but didn't mind the subject of the conversation very much.

"I heard your home is a bit of a mess… you are the only provider… surely you need some extra money."

"… I get what I need" Albus said, even slower now, before slowly placing a piece of fish inside his mouth. Lukas stared at him, his eyes drifted down, and Albus felt his heart beginning to fasten its speed.

"But wouldn't you want some more? Maybe become a manager? You would get more money, less time to be here… you could pursue what you love" he said, eyes drifting back to Albus' as he swallowed down the piece of fish. "I am the manager here, I could use a helping hand, and I'm sure if I told the bosses about your… good work… they would promote you."

"I… Lukas, I am unsure as to what you mean. I have done nothing special, I did not ask for the job, I am not a different co-worker… I'm just a normal guy, why would you want me for the job of manager?" he asked, suspicious and nervous, his stomach somewhat rejecting the food because of the tension in his muscles.

Lukas simply shrugged and leaned forward, reaching out to take Albus' hand on his own.

Albus almost vomited his heart out at that.

"I just think you deserve it" he said, his voice weirdly soft, and Albus' eyes widened, shifting from one side of the store to another, trying to find the nearest exit. He wasn't sure about what was happening, but he knew he was feeling sick and weird and he wanted to go home.

"I… really don't need it, I'm fine being just an employee, I can make it with the money I get-" Albus said, his voice a little shaken, but Lukas simply stood up, his hands wrapping around Albus' wrist.

"I can help you…"

 _"Albus! Mr. Finnick!"_

Lukas stopped his advances at the voice outside, and Albus felt a wave of relief coming over him as he stepped back, got himself fixed and walked towards the door. Albus was right behind, getting ready to go right back to business.

"What?!" he asked angrily as he opened the door, and Cam was outside, finding the whole situation strange.

"I need Albus to tell me what he sold to that old lady, she said one of the products were checked wrong" she said, confused, and nodded for Albus to follow her. Reluctantly, Lukas got away from his path and Albus rushed out, taking her hand and following her to his cashier.

He was about to fake a call from his sister and get his ass back home.

He had no stomach to stare at Lukas for the rest of that day.


	18. Freezing Hot

After a short talk to Lukas about how his little sister had just called asking him to take her to the hospital (despite of having to use Cam to be able to get a 'yes' from the manager), Albus was finally able to get an escape from the situation he was settled in. He grabbed his bag, changed into his normal clothes and left the market, but not before a hand held his wrist and an unwanted mouth came close to his ear to whisper: "Think about my offer". Uncomfortable, he promised that he would, although his answer was already certain, and left the establishment as quickly as he could, not looking back as he went straight to his house's path.

Sure, he didn't know how Ari and Abe would react of him coming home earlier than he had programmed, neither he had a good excuse to give to his siblings, but being as far away from that market as possible was his momentary quest.

Although, as he walked towards the small woods between the village and the Dumbledore residence, he felt as if he was being watched.

Making his steps slower and his ears more attentive, he kept on walking while looking around, sure that he was being followed. The streets were mostly empty as they always were, with a car driving by every now and then, or a person making their way up or down the street walking past him. Nothing suspicious, no one he recognized immediately, nothing he wouldn't normally see in a normal afternoon.

But as he approached the woods entrance, he stopped, and looked around again, all the area surrounding him, trying to find something.

When he didn't, he decided to play fair.

"Is there anyone there?"

If it were a stalker or a murderer or a thief, they would never just go around and say 'yes'. It was a stupid plan. But Albus had no idea what else to do.

He walked for a few seconds, and then something poked him on the back, making him jump and turn around, scared out of his mind.

So scared in fact that his panicked face made Gellert burst out laughing.

"Oh sweet, you really didn't know I was around" Gellert said between laughs, a huge grin on his face as Albus held onto his own shirt and tried to steady his breathing and heart. "That was priceless, you should have seen your face."

"God… damn it Gellert" he mumbled shakily and closed his eyes. "Today was not a good day to play with me like this…"

"Something happened?" he asked, immediately serious again, and Albus shook his head, taking a deep breath and waving it off.

"Don't worry about it" he mumbled and tilted his head. "What the hell were you doing, following me around?"

"Well, I was following you around" Gellert shrugged, and Albus rolled his eyes.

"Yes but why?"

"I was hoping to catch you after work to take you somewhere" he explained, smiling. "Auntie told me where you worked so I came around lunch break to see if you would stay for another turn or leave."

"Well, you caught me in a good day" Albus admitted, smiling lightly, calmer now that Gellert was around and he knew it wasn't Lukas or anyone else. "I actually want to go home just after eight, but I'm not staying at work. So I have the whole afternoon free."

"Oh then it's perfect" Gellert exclaimed, grinning and reaching out for Albus, taking him by the hand. "Follow me."

Without giving Albus much choice, he pulled him towards the woods, holding his hand tight and making the redhead blush ever so lightly around his freckles. He fixed his glasses, held tight onto his bag and followed the directions he was being pulled towards, into the woods and towards the other side of the town.

"Here we are."

Albus looked around as Gellert let go from his hand, staring straight towards Albus and waiting a reaction. They were in a little clearing in the middle of the Godric Hollow's woods, a little deeper than what Albus usually went, where a small pond rested frozen in the middle of the winter.

"How did you find this place?" Albus asked, voice soft as he walked closer to the pond. Gellert walked with him, standing by his side.

"Well, I didn't have anything to do these last days and my auntie said there were some interesting things in the woods, in case I wanted to get adventurous" he said, smirking to himself. "So I wondered around and found this. Cool right?"

"Yes… it is called the Sword Pond" Albus said, sitting down slowly, and Gellert sat next to him, frowning ever so lightly.

"Sword Pond?"

"It is said… that many years ago, someone dropped a very expensive sword inside the pond" Albus said, reaching down and making a little sword drawing on the ice with his finger. "Made of pure silver, with many precious stones in it… Some say that depending on the position of the moon, you can still see the reflection of the sword in the dark waters."

"Is it real then?" Gellert asked, curiously, and Albus looked at him with a chuckle. "What? What if it is?"

"I'm pretty sure it is just a rock formation that has some type of crystal above it that resembles a sword" he said, amused by Gellert's reaction. "You don't believe in stories like these, do you?"

"All stories have their truth" he said, eyes shifting towards the lake again. "Imagine if there really is a silver sword inside this little pond, filled with precious stones… we would be rich."

"And frozen" Albus chuckled, and looked up at Gellert as he suddenly stood up. "What are you doing?"

"Would you come after me if I froze?" he asked, eyes focused on the lake as he began taking out his coat. Albus' heart immediately accelerated its beats, and he stood up, shaking his head.

"You're not serious… It's a joke Gellert, a story! There is no sword inside this pond" he said, desperately, already freaking out. With reason, since Gellert had put his coat down and was beginning to unbutton his shirt. "Gellert quit it! You're not getting inside, I won't allow you to!"

"Jumping in frozen lakes is a sport Albus, you don't actually die from it" he rolled his eyes, and looked at him with a smirk. "Just be ready to warm me up when I come back up."

"You're not going!" Albus insisted, standing in front of him and frowning. Gellert raised his eyebrow, tilting his head. "It is dangerous, you're not doing it."

"But what about the sword?"

"It is not real!"

"You don't know that. You're not sure."

"Do you actually believe in fairy tales?!"

"Yes, most of the time" Gellert said, shrugging his shirt off and reaching out for his shoes. Albus looked at his hands and frowned, holding his wrists and stepping forward, making Gellert step back.

"You're not getting inside, I'm not going to let you" he said, firmly, eyes narrowed, and Gellert smirked.

"Fine. I won't get inside. With one condition."

Albus sighed, and rolled his eyes.

"What condition?"

" _Kiss me_."

Albus froze immediately, and Gellert smirked widely, staring deep into the extremely conflicted blue eyes in front of him.

"I-I beg your pardon?" Albus asked, his voice failing him as it came out mumbled and slightly broken, and Gellert simply chuckled at him, shrugging lightly.

"Kiss me and I won't get inside. Don't kiss me, and you will have to catch my frozen body from the pond."

"… was this your idea since you told me to come with you?" Albus asked, narrowing his eyes again, and Gellert shook his head.

"No, I make my plans up as I go" he whispered, smirking, and stepped forward, making Albus step back. "So, what is it going to be?"

"G-Gellert, one thing has nothing to do with the other" Albus mumbled shakily, taking another step back as Gellert took one forward.

"It's just a kiss… I'm not asking anything else."

"It has nothing to do with anything!"

"Albus… please…" Gellert groaned, giving another step forward. "Your obliviousness is driving me insane!"

"I'm not oblivious!" Albus retorted, annoyed, and stepped back again. "I know what you want, I'm not going to give it to you!"

"Why not?!"

"Because I-"

As Gellert gave another step forward, Albus gave another one backwards. However this time, the floor was over, and the pond was beginning. As soon as he stepped, putting all his weight on the foot, all they heard was a cracking sound.

Then, Albus fell back into the water, his leg going first and being followed by his whole body, hands slipping from Gellert's wrist and going right into the water.

The pond was deep, and despite of them being close to the edge, Albus lost all balance and went back first against the ice, breaking the thin layer and getting his whole body into the water.

The immediate sensation was of thousands of clothes pins digging into his skin. Luckily, he had no time to feel anything else, because as soon as he fell he was being pulled back, and although he was coughing and shivering and completely freezing, he still felt his fingers.

"Holy shit!" Gellert screamed next to him, pulling him completely out of the water and pushing the hair that was on Albus' face off. "I'm so sorry, I'm so fucking sorry holy shit, are you okay?! Albus are you feeling your body?!"

"Y-y-ye-ye-yes" he was able to answer, his teeth shattering as he tried to get himself up. His legs were trembling, his arms were shaking horribly, and he could only grab onto Gellert's body and try to pull himself up. "F-f-f-f-f-fuck."

"Wait, I'll warm you up" Gellert said, pulling off Albus' coat and desperately pulling onto his shirt. A little dazzed, Albus tried to help, confused and getting even colder at the hit of the cold wind on his body. However, soon he felt warm, with something dry being wrapped around him. "Fuck, your brother and sister are going to kill me…"

"D-d-d-don-don't ta-ta-take me ho-home" Albus said, immediately, feeling his brain take control of his mouth slowly. Gellert looked at him worriedly and Albus simply shook his head. "N-n-n-no-no…"

"O-okay, I'll take you to my house then" Gellert said, slowly standing up and pulling Albus with him. "My car is like… a few kilometres from here, lets get there and warm you up, okay?"

"Y-ye-ye-ye-yes-s-s…" Albus mumbled, tiredly, and leaning heavily on Gellert. He grabbed everything else that was theirs and began to pull Albus towards the car, as he slowly felt his bones and muscles warming up at the light exercise.

Soon, he was leaning less against Gellert, but he was still freezing cold.

"I'm so fucking stupid, I swear to heavens…" Gellert mumbled as they walked, making Albus smile and then chuckle weakly.

"Do-don't worry, I'll live" he said, softly, already feeling way better, and turned his head to look at Gellert, who looked back, frowning in worry. "It was your fault though, so like, you own me one."

"Yes, maybe I do" Gellert mumbled, looking away. "Maybe I do."

Albus saw a little tint of pink in Gellert's cheek, and his heart warmed up.


	19. Phoenix Fire

"Come in, come in... shit, I'm so sorry again, how are you feeling?"

"Gellert, I'm fine."

"I shouldn't have done that, you were recovering for a whole night out in the snow and now you are wet and covered in freezing water! Up! Upstairs, you are taking a warm shower!"

"Gellert-"

"Don't 'Gellert' me, up the stairs and into my room now."

"Okay okay" Albus mumbled, being pushed up the stairs by a very determined Gellert. They walked to the second floor and Gellert lead him to his room, opening the door and getting inside, looking for something. Albus walked inside slowly, sniffling and looking around. It barely had no decorations. The bed was made, there was a little bedtable next to it, the walls were mostly empty but by a landscape painting and a picture of what looked like Gellert's family, there was a dresser and a closet, and over the dresser, there was a little silver music box. The closet itself was empty, and there was a bag thrown somewhere in the corner, opened and with clothes falling out of it.

It wasn't the coziest room ever, but like, it was fine.

"There" Gellert said, handing Albus a bunch of things. "Got you two towels, some sweatpants, a fluffy coat, and the newest pair of boxers I own. I wash them well, don't worry about it. Go take a shower."

"Thank you" Albus said, picking the things up and looking at the door to the side of the room. "Over there?"

"Yes."

"Alright."

Slowly, Albus walked to the bathroom and got inside, closing and locking the door behind him. He placed everything in a fairly large sink, and walked to the box, turning the water on and checking the warmth. When it was pleasingly warm, he began removing his clothes. He placed his glasses carefully next to the towels, and then pulled away the borrowed shirt Gellert had given him at the lake.

He tried not to think about how he was showering in Bathilda's house without her permission, just next to Gellert's room, where Gellert was standing. No, that wasn't… good to think about. He was already getting warm on his face just by thinking about it.

Shaking his head, Albus walked into the shower and let the warm water fall over him, shivering at first before sighing once his body got used to the warmth. He needed to pay the gas bill when he got home. Frowning at the thought, he picked up a bottle and checked to see if it was shampoo before getting another, and then another, until he found the one with the right label and began washing his awfully long hair. He needed to buy Ariana some stuff as well, and he remembered Aberforth saying he wanted some special type of hair gel he had seen somewhere in the internet. There was also the internet bill. And some others. And he had read somewhere that grains were going to grow more expensive that year. He needed to stock them before they got worst prices.

Sighing, Albus rubbed his scalp and then washed his hair, down to the tip. Frowning, he held his long hair in his hands. It was so long. It wasted so much shampoo. Maybe he should cut it like Aberforth had said.

 _"Decided to man up a little? Tired of looking like a girl, Dumbledore?"_

The sudden memory made him wince, and he let go of his hair, getting under the water to rinse the shampoo off.

The length was fine. He just had to buy some cheaper brand, that was all.

He applied the conditioner to his hair and let it do its job as he washed the rest of his body, looking down and smiling at himself, sliding his fingers over his side.

Oh yes, he always forgot.

Fondly, he drew over the phoenix on his side with his fingers. It was the most stupid, and the best decision he ever had before his mother died, to do that tattoo. Now, he wouldn't have made it because of how expensive it would have been, but at the time, fifteen years old, he didn't worry too much about money, and his mother was nice enough to let him do it. The phoenix's head poked around his waist like into his stomach, while its wings went one to each side, one reaching his right shoulder and the other going down to the middle of his right thigh. It had been a pain to do it all, lasted around eight hours total between sections, but it was worth it.

He even had a name for it. Fawkes.

After admiring it for a while, Albus remembered that that was not his house and it was not his water bill to pay, so he quickly rinsed off the soap on his body and the conditioner on his hair and got out, looking around. He grabbed the towel and wrapped around his waist before grabbing the other and rolling his hair into it to dry.

Then, he dried himself off the best he could in the moist surroundings and put on the clothes Gellert had given him.

It smelled like Gellert. It felt… strangely nice.

Then, he undid the towel in his head and brushed his wet hair, putting his glasses back on and walking out to meet Gellert again.

When he got out, Gellert was dressed with warm clothes, his hair was also wet, and he was doing something in his phone over his bed. Upon hearing Albus come out, he looked up, and Albus smiled.

"Done."

"Good" Gellert said, sitting up and then standing. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes. Just a runny nose, that's all."

"Could be worst" Gellert mumbled and Albus agreed with a nod. "Sit down, we still have time until you have to go home."

Albus looked around to see if he could find a chair. When he didn't, he hesitantly walked to the bed and sat, looking awkwardly around. Gellert sat down as well and raised his eyebrow, staring at Albus and being stared back after a while.

They were silent, the mood was awkward, and Albus could feel his cheeks warming up.

"So…"

"Albus, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Are you oblivious or are you intentionally avoiding my intentions?"

Albus blinked slowly, eyes widening, and his cheeks were definitely at least pink now, as he stared at Gellert. He, however, seemed dead serious, eyes slightly narrowed, mouth in a straight line.

"W-what do you mean?" Albus asked, his voice cracking a little, and Gellert sighed.

"I mean that I've been flirting with you for almost a week straight and you are giving me literally no feedback" he said, furrowing his eyebrows. "So give me an honest answer. Are you unsure or are you not interested?"

"… you're not used to not getting what you want, are you?" Albus asked, softly, but more than an actual question, he just wanted to shift the subject. Gellert looked at him surprised at first, and then chuckled.

"Albus, darling, listen up" he said, getting closer and making Albus' heart race. "I'm not the owner of the truth. I'm also not a powerful god. I can't make everything I want happen. However, I tend to be good at the flirting game, and usually, yes, I get what I want. And believe me, I have won difficult fights. You, however, doesn't even seem to want to start a fight. You are slippering away from me like a snake, and I am very unsure as to what to take from it."

"What do you mean?" Albus asked, moving back slowly, and Gellert chuckled.

"I mean that I don't know why you don't accept my flirtation even if you are extremely attracted to me and everyone can see it" he said, ever so softly, and Albus bit his bottom lip to hold back a whine he was very close of letting out.

Was he that obvious?!

"S-so what?"

"So what that I want to know if you are doing this on propose, if this is some type of game… do you have a boyfriend? A girlfriend? A partner? Is that the problem?"

"N-no, I don't have anyone…"

"So are you like… from one of those crazy religions where you can't date anyone? Do you have a vow, something like that?"

"N-no, nothing like that."

"Then were you just oblivious as to how much I actually want you and now that you know, you are willing to give me a chance?"

"Gellert…" Albus mumbled, sighing shakily and standing up. "Stop. Let's not do this please."

"Do what? Albus, come on" Gellert said, standing up as well. "Even your siblings know you're into me. Even my aunt knows."

"My… what?" Albus asked, his eyes widening, and Gellert tilted his head.

"Ariana is basically pushing me to you, and Aberforth has already threatened me" he chuckled, smirking. "Come on, everyone knows."

"They… they know?" Albus asked, his voice trembling, his stomach knotting up, hands shaking slightly. "N-no, they can't… they can't know, that's not… I… I've never given them any reason…"

"Albus… what are you on about?" Gellert asked, frowning, and Albus shook his head, covering his face with his hands.

"They can't… I never… They shouldn't know, no no, this is… this is a disaster" he mumbled, shakily, and suddenly Gellert was pulling his hands away from his face.

"Albus, they are not against it, if that's what is making you freak out…" Gellert mumbled, confused, and Albus groaned, pulling his hands away and stepping back.

"This is your fault!" he said, loudly, completely losing it. "If you hadn't arrived, if you hadn't come to Godric's Hollow, everything would have been fine!"

"Hey hey hey I'm not going to be attacked in my own house" Gellert said, firmly. "If you fancy me, it's not my fault. It's your own fault Dumbledore."

"I'm going. Enough of this" Albus said, looking around and finding his bag. It was wet, but he didn't care. He put it over his shoulders and walked towards the door of the bedroom. But Gellert didn't seem very keen to that idea.

"Oh no wait a second" he said, walking faster than Albus and standing between him and the door. "You're going to explain to me this internalized homophobia you're carrying around right now. You're not leaving my house until you give me an answer."

"Grindelwald, get out of my way" Albus huffed, angrily, but Gellert shook his head and crossed his arms.

"No way Dumbledore. I want an answer to my question."

"Fine. I'm not interested."

"An honest answer."

"It is an honest answer. I'm not interested."

"That's not an honest answer."

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because of this."

It was fast. Gellert leaned closer, held Albus by his neck and pulled him down into a kiss. A kiss that lasted less than seconds, that felt uncomfortable, that was only lips pressed against lips in a awkward position due to how 'in the heat of the moment' Gellert's decision had been, but still, it was a kiss.

A kiss that left both of them silent and frozen as they pulled away, their widened eyes locked, Gellert's hands still on Albus' neck.

The reaction came after a few seconds. They met in the middle, Albus' hands gripping onto Gellert's coat, pulling him closer, while Gellert's went to Albus' waist, pulling him in as he nibbled and licked the redhead's bottom lip, pulling out a moan from him and using his open mouth to deepen the kiss. Using his new found position, Gellert used his body to turn them around and push Albus against the door, all while sliding his hands underneath the coat he was wearing. Albus let out a soft sound into his mouth, hand sliding up to Gellert's hair and tangling his long fingers into the almost white hair, letting their bodies press together almost desperately.

They only pulled away when they needed to breathe, and Gellert immediately attached his mouth to Albus' pale neck, kissing and sucking and biting it down as he pulled off the goddamned wet backpack from Albus' shoulders. Then, he bit down Albus' pulse point, making him let out a gasp, shivers running down his spine at every kiss and scratch and bite Gellert left on his skin. Albus' hands moved down from his hair to his back, tugging onto his shirt, and Gellert seemed to understand exactly what it meant, taking his hands away from Albus to pull off his coat before returning for a kiss in the redhead's mouth.

The next to leave was Albus' borrowed coat, both getting onto the floor. Gellert pulled away, just enough to get a quick glimpse, and Albus looked at him through barely open eyes, his heart racing inside his chest, his stomach knotting up, his mind completely fuzzy with this weird sensation he had never felt before.

And when Gellert kissed him again, hard and hot and intense, he melted into his hold once more, wrapping his arms around his neck and scratching between Gellert's shoulders.

It was the best Albus had ever felt. Ever.


End file.
